American prison population have increased in recent decades as a result of policy decisons. model the fluctuation in the prison population from 1980 to 2015. the table presents this data five-year inc

American prison population have increased in recent decades as a result of policy decisons. model the fluctuation in the prison population from 1980 to 2015. the table presents this data five-year increments. Time is in years, t, on the x axis and population, p, ( in thousands on the y axis: (year/population) 1980/23, 1985/48.3, 1990/94.1, 1995/131.2, 2000/160.4, 2005/169.0, 2010/164.2, 2015/129.2