NCJ Number
248451
Date Published
December 2012
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This summary of statistics on Ohio's arrest-related deaths in 2011 will be included in the annual Federal Arrest-Related Deaths Program.
Abstract
This report defines an arrest-related death (ARD) as "a death that occurs any time a person's freedom to leave is restricted by State or local law enforcement." Deaths that occurred in a jail or other long-term holding facility and deaths that occurred in the custody of Federal law enforcement officers are not included in the ARD program. In 2011 there were 43 ARDs in Ohio. Homicide by law enforcement personnel accounted for 33 (77 percent) of reported ARDs. Suicides accounted for approximately 21 percent of reported ARDs. All 43 ARD decedents were males; 58 percent were White, and approximately 40 percent were Black; 54 percent of ARDs involved 18-24 year-olds, and 28 percent involved 25-34 year-olds; and 26 percent of the ARD decedents were documented as having mental illness. Thirty-three percent of reported ARD suicides involved decedents between the ages of 25 and 34; 78 percent of reported ARD suicides involved White decedents, and 22 percent were Black. At least one ARD occurred in each of 17 Ohio counties. Approximately 86 percent of ARD decedents had allegedly engaged in violent offenses. Of those with charges filed or intended, 30 percent had documented histories of mental illness. Regarding the means of death, 14 percent involved a conducted energy device; 95 percent of ARDs involved a firearm. Data are also reported on place and time of expiration, as well as the characteristics of the law enforcement agencies having custody of the ARD decedents. 10 tables, 1 figure, and appended Ohio ARD data form