Natl: New Statistics Released on Deaths in Custody
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) has released a new report Suicide and Homicide in State Prisons and Local Jails 2002. The report compiles information collected by BJS based on the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2000. The text of this report focuses on suicide and homicide, although the data contains glimpses of the leading cause of deaths for people in jail and prison: illness.
Overall suicide rates have been going down per 100,000 people in prison/jail since the 1980's (not necessarily an overall decrease, but a decrease in the rate of suicide and homicide). According to this report, suicide is the second leading cause of reported deaths (32%, or one-third) for people in local jails, second to reported deaths from illness (approximately 50%). In state prisons, illness accounted for over 80% of the reported deaths of state prisoners in 2000-2002.
Some statistics presented by this latest BJS report:
- Suicides in jails averaged close to 1 a day in 2002 (314 across the country in 2002)
- 21 people died in the Clark County, Nevada jail in 2000-2002, 8 from suicide
- Jail suicides are most likely to happen in the first week someone is being held in jail. Prison suicides do not have a corresponding "high-risk" time frame.
- Deaths from "intoxication" averaged almost 1 per week in jail (54 across the country in 2002) and about 3 per month in state prisons (37 across the country in 2002)
- The report notes differences in suicide risk among prisoners based on race (White prisoners are at a higher risk than other races of suicide) and the nature of a person's "offense" (violent offenses increase the risk of suicide).
- Over 80% of reported prisoner deaths in state prisons were attributed to "illness"
- State prisoners over the age of 45 made up two-thirds of all deaths in state prisons, even though they make up less than 20% of the prison population.
How did western states report deaths in custody?
Several states in our region reported no state prisoner deaths by homicide from 2000-2002 --- Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Utah reported 1 prisoner death by homicide, and Washington and Nevada each reported 2 prisoner deaths by homicide.
- Oregon reported 57 deaths of state prisoners overall from 2000-2002, 5 from suicide and none from homicide
- Washington reported 60 deaths of state prisoners overall from 2000-2002, 4 from suicide and 2 from homicide
- Montana reported 11 deaths of state prisoners overall from 2000-2002, 1 from suicide and none from homicide
- Nevada reported 52 deaths of state prisoners overall from 2000-2002, 3 from suicide and 2 from homicide
- Idaho reported 26 deaths of state prisoners overall from 2000-2002, 3 from suicide and none from homicide
- Utah reported 14 deaths of state prisoners overall from 2000-2002, 4 from suicide and 1 from homicide
- Wyoming reported 8 deaths of state prisoners overall from 2000-2002, 1 from suicide and none from homicide
Comparisons with deaths on the outside
With 2.1 million people in prison and jail every day (and according to the report, nearly 13 million people a year spending some time in jail every year) it is expected that there will be deaths. But how do we usefully analyze deaths in custody? On the outside we are not living "under the control of the state." We make our own decisions about what to eat, whether to drive a car, whether we smoke or consume alcohol. We have access to firearms (a frequent weapon in suicide and homicide outside prison). People living in prison and jail have fewer choices, and in fact the state is directly responsible for their well-being --- this distinction is key for any discussion of "deaths in custody." Disappointingly, the report itself makes no comparisons of reported deaths of people in prison and jail with deaths of people not living under the "control of the state" or with deaths in prisons in other industrialized countries.
The full PDF of the report (requires Acrobat Reader) is available at:
