Continued racial disparity in prisons across the US

Washington, Dec 4 (Prensa Latina) Black people in the United States are more likely to be imprisoned than white people, according to a new study on the issue.

However, a report by the Council on Criminal Justice stated that racial disparities in US jails have narrowed over the past 16 years.

Press reports set out that data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other national information were used for the analysis.

The report specified that the divide in state imprisonment rates between black and white inmates dropped for all major crimes.

Nevertheless, black people are five times more likely than white people to be in state prisons for drug crimes.

Reported crime rates for black people accused of rape, robbery and aggravated assault decreased an average of three percent each year from 2000 to 2016.

'It turns out it's a bad problem that's getting a little better, and for very complex reasons that we need to understand at a much deeper level,' Adam Gelb, president and CEO of the Council on Criminal Justice, told the Associated Press.