There were over 4.53 million arrests for all offenses in the United States in 2021 alone. However, if we want to know how many citizens have been arrested in the past 10 years, we need to look at the overall trends.

According to the latest criminal conviction records, over 77 million Americans hold a criminal record, which makes up roughly one out of every three US adults. Around 10% of them (7.7 million) have been imprisoned at least once in their lifetime [3]. In addition, a report by the Brennan Center revealed that 576,000 people are imprisoned without any public safety reason, and they could have been sentenced to community service instead.

It is important to note that these statistics cover the overall population and not just citizens. Also, some individuals may have been arrested and convicted multiple times, so the number of arrests does not necessarily equate to the number of people arrested. In a typical year, about 600,000 people enter prison gates, 5 but people go to jail over 10 million times each year.

Overall, the number of citizens arrested in the past 10 years is difficult to determine, but the available data suggests that a significant portion of the US population has a criminal record, and many individuals may be incarcerated without a valid public safety reason.