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Preventing escapes from custody is an essential function of prisons and jails. Yet, when these incidents occur, little is known about how often or quickly escapees are recaptured. Drawing on the routine activities framework, this study examines a dataset of 610 prison and jail escapees collected through a comprehensive open-source search protocol. The study uses logistic and Cox regression techniques to determine which factors are associated with being recaptured and the time-to-recapture. Findings indicate that more than 91 percent of escapees were recaptured within 1 year and very few remained on the lam for more than a few days. People who escape from nonsecure facilities (often called walkaways) were less likely to be recaptured and remained out of custody for longer durations than those who escaped from secure facilities or while outside under secure (e.g., transport) or nonsecure (e.g., work release) settings. Jail escapees were also less likely to be recaptured, and were apprehended more slowly, than those who fled from a prison.

After his appointment as chief justice of King's Bench in 1495, John Fyneux pressured the ecclesiastical hierarchy through indictments for escapes which explored which officials had responsibility for the prisons and how they were managed, and thereby successfully asserted the royal right of oversight. By the end of Henry VII's reign his bishops, faced with ruinous fines like other lords, had largely accepted their role as gaolers under royal authority, and thus contributed to the bureaucratisation of the hierarchy which Henry VIII would exploit to such good effect.