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The Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP) collects data on deaths that occur in state prison or local jail custody, and during the process of arrest. Data are collected directly from state and local law enforcement agencies. The DCRP provides individual-level data on the number of deaths by year, cause of death, and decedent age, race/ethnicity, and sex. Mortality rates are also presented. The collection of individual-level data allows BJS to perform detailed analyses of comparative death rates across demographic categories and offense types, as well as facility and agency characteristics.
The DCRP began in 2000 under the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-297), which required the collection of individual death records for prison and jail fatalities. While this legislation expired in 2006, BJS has continued to collect these data, as they represent a unique national resource for understanding mortality in the criminal justice system. Prior to the passage of the law, BJS annually collected aggregate counts of deaths from state prisons and less frequently collected aggregate counts from local jails. Annual collection of individual death records from local jail facilities began in 2000, followed by a separate collection from state prison facilities in 2001. Collection of arrest-related death records began in 2003.
Data Collections & Surveys | |
Publications & Products | |
Prison and Jail Deaths in Custody, 2000-2009 - Statistical Tables
Provides data on the number and causes of deaths that occurred in state prison or local jail custody. |
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Press Release | PDF (675K) | ASCII file (19K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 38K)
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Arrest-Related Deaths, 2003-2009 - Statistical Tables
Provides data on the circumstances of deaths that occur during, or shortly after, state or local law enforcement officers engage in an arrest or restraint process. |
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Press Release | PDF (1M) | ASCII file (23K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 44K)
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Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2007 (Update)
Contains a series of data tables describing recent trends in mortality in state prison, local jails, and during the process of arrest by state and local law enforcement officers. |
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State Prison Deaths, 2001-2007 (HTML) | Local Jail Deaths, 2000-2007 (HTML) | State and Local Law Enforcement Arrest-related Deaths, 2003-2006 - Statistical Tables (HTML)
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Deaths in Custody: State Prison Deaths, 2001-2007 - Statistical Tables
These tables provide national data on both the number and rate of prison deaths, by cause and over time, as well as specific data on each state's prisons. Tables include basic data on the number and characteristics of deaths reported each year by all 50 state prison systems. |
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Deaths in Custody: Local Jail Deaths, 2000-2007- Statistical tables
This web page provides basic data on the number and characteristics of deaths reported each year by approximately 3,000 local jails nationwide, and provide both national data on the number and rate of jail deaths, by cause and over time, as well as specific data on the nation's 50 largest jail jurisdictions. |
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Deaths in Custody: State and Local Law Enforcement Arrest-Related Deaths, 2003-2006 - Statistical Tables
This is an update to the Deaths in Custody Data tables page that provides State and local law enforcement arrest-related deaths for 2003-2006 |
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Terms & Definitions | |
Federal prisons |
Prison facilities run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Prisoners housed in these
facilities are under the legal authority of the federal government. This definition
excludes the private facilities that are under exclusive contract with BOP. |
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Prison |
Compared to jail facilities, prisons are longer-term facilities owned by a state or by
the Federal Government. Prisons typically hold felons and persons with sentences of
more than a year; however, the sentence length may vary by state. Six states
(Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Delaware, Alaska, and Hawaii) have an integrated
correctional system that combines jails and prisons. There are a small number of
private prisons, facilities that are run by private prison corporations whose services
and beds are contracted out by state or federal governments. |
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