This interim summary report published by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) National Institute of Justice (NIJ) provides supplemental information in response to the study requirement set forth in the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2013 (DCRA).
The findings of this interim summary report released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on understanding and reducing deaths in custody underscore the complex landscape of arrest-related deaths and mortality in jails and state prisons. The findings also highlight the need for targeted policies, practices, and strategies to address contributing factors across different demographic and situational contexts. The report findings include what is known about arrest-related deaths and deaths that occur in jails and state prisons. DOJ has provided this report as a supplemental step in response to the study requirement set forth in the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2013 (DCRA). The Office of Justice Programs’ National Institute of Justice (NIJ), in coordination with its Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), commissioned two studies to collectively respond to the DCRA study requirement. NIJ contracted with RTI International in late 2021 to conduct a broader three-year study involving a national-level review and analysis of policies, practices (including management practices), and available data addressing deaths in custody, along with in-depth case studies of multiple sites and agency types. This secondary analyses relied on existing federal data sources and — when comprehensive federal data were unavailable — open-source data to understand the prevalence, scope, and incident characteristics associated with these deaths. Decedent data were also linked to agency and community data sources to investigate the associations between agency characteristics, policies, practices, and programs and deaths. The report is organized by the three main contexts in which deaths in custody occur: law enforcement, jails, and prisons. In each context, the data reveal unique prevalence rates, causes and manners of death, and other situational factors requiring tailored policies, practices, and strategies for preventing and reducing deaths.