Deaths in Custody: Local Jail Deaths, 2000-2007

Basic data on the number and characteristics of deaths reported each year by approximately 3,000 local jails nationwide, and 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.<br>The Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP) is an annual data collection conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). The DCRP began in 2000 under the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-297). It is the only national statistical collection that obtains detailed information about deaths in adult correctional facilities. The DCRP collects data on persons dying in state prisons, local jails and in the process of arrest. Each collection is a separate subcollection, but each is under the umbrella of the DCRP collection. This deals with the local jails subcollection, which has a local jail facilities death file.<br><br>The jails portion of the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program began in 2000 after the passage of the Deaths in Custody Reporting Act of 2000 in October of 2000. The jails component of the DCRP collects data on inmate deaths occurring in local jail facilities while inmates are in the physical custody of jail facility officials.