Commission will study why veterans are more likely than non-veterans to get in trouble with the law

A preliminary report from a new nonpartisan commission led by prominent former military and law enforcement officials says military veterans are more likely than the rest of the public to be arrested and suggests that combat-related stress and injuries may feed the problem.

The Veterans Justice Commission, officially launched Tuesday by the Council on Criminal Justice think tank, found that about one-third of veterans say they have been arrested at least once, compared to fewer than one-fifth of all non-veterans, citing Justice Department data from 2015. 

The commission’s report, called the Preliminary Assessment of Veterans in the Criminal Justice System and released Tuesday, also said Justice Department data showed that about 8% of all U.S. inmates, or about 181,500, were military veterans. 

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The commission’s assessment identified multiple risk factors that contribute to incarceration for veterans, including combat-related trauma and post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injuries, substance abuse, adverse childhood experiences and sexual trauma while in the military. 

The commission found that many of the risk factors were interrelated — for example, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury can lead to substance abuse.

Veterans serving time are, on average, 51 or 52 years old, while incarcerated civilians without military backgrounds are generally 38 to 40 years old. The commission assesses that veterans who served in the military after Sept. 11, 2001, even though they may be under 50, could be at higher risk of incarceration, in part because many had multiple overseas deployments. 

According to the Justice Department data, incarcerated veterans were almost all male (98%), and more than two-thirds (69%) were serving time for violent crimes, compared to 57% of non-veterans in prison.

The commission will be chaired by Chuck Hagel, a former defense secretary and Republican senator from Nebraska, and it will include former Defense Secretary and White House chief of staff Leon Panetta, a former sergeant major in the Marine Corps, other former military and criminal justice professionals and two formerly incarcerated veterans. In two years, commission members will report their findings and their recommendations to prevent veteran incarceration.