According to data from the Department of Penitentiary Administration (Dap) released by the Ministry of Justice, at the end of May the number of prisoners present in penitentiary institutions in Lazio amounted to 6,779 with an increase of 242 units compared to the 6,537 at the beginning of the year. In percentage terms, the growth rate in the first five months of the year was 3.7% and is higher than the national average.
Throughout Italy, the number of prisoners present as of 31 May 2024 is equal to 61,547: they have grown by 1,381 units since the beginning of the year (+2.3%).
Currently the overall crowding rate in the region, calculated on the regulatory capacity declared by the Ministry, is equal to 130.2% and 143.0% if this indicator is calculated on the actual number of places available. Throughout Italy the rates are equal to 120.1% on the “official” capacity and 129.3% on the number of places actually available.
If we exclude the two prisons in the region (Rebibbia and Civitavecchia) and the third prison in Rome, intended for semi-free prisoners and advanced treatment for drug addicts, as well as the Paliano institute, all the prisons in the region have rates of actual crowding exceeds 100% and there are 8 out of 14 where the inmates present exceed the threshold of 140% of the places actually available.
The situation in the Roman prison of Regina Coeli is particularly dramatic, where the crowding rate reached 183% and on 5 June yet another suicide of an inmate was recorded. It must be underlined here that Regina Coeli appears to be the penitentiary institution which recorded the highest number of suicides between 2020 and the first five months of 2024: there were a total of fifteen.
Looking then at the crowding rates recorded throughout Italy, it should be noted that there are 143 penitentiary institutions out of 189 that have effective crowding rates above 100% and, consequently, there are only two regions – Trentino Alto Adige and Sardinia, in which the number of prisoners is lower than the places actually available.
The number of prisoners awaiting trial is decreasing
At least in this month of May, the trend towards an increase in prisoners awaiting trial, which is occurring especially in Lazio, seems to be easing. In fact their number, which was 2,037 at the end of April, has been reduced to 2,001. However, it should be considered that at the beginning of the year there were 1,922 prisoners in Lazio in this condition and that the relative percentage of the total prison population went from 29.4% at the beginning of January to the current 29.5% and this value is today decidedly higher than the 25.3% recorded at a national level.
Foreign prisoners are 2,550 and make up 37.7% of the prison population in the region compared to the 31.3% recorded throughout Italy. Also on this side there has been a significant increase and since the beginning of the year the number of foreigners detained in penitentiary institutions in Lazio has increased by 64 units corresponding to a percentage of 2.2%. Lazio ranks tenth among the Italian regions with the highest percentages of foreigners among the detained population.
Finally, the number of children imprisoned together with their mothers throughout Italy is equal to 24, last month there were 21. In Lazio there is currently a child imprisoned together with his mother, according to what was published on the website of the Ministry of Justice last month there were two.
