U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report Suicide and Homicide August 2005, NCJ 210036 in State Prisons and Local Jails By Christopher J. Mumola BJS Policy Analyst Highlights Data from new Bureau of Justice Local jail inmate deaths State prison inmate deaths 2000-02 2001-02 Statistics (BJS) data collections offer Cause 2000 2001 2002 percent 2001 2002 percent the first opportunity to analyze the All causes 912 953 978 100 % 2,878 2,946 100% personal characteristics, current Illness 462 432 459 47.6 % 2,304 2,379 80.4 % offenses, and environmental factors AIDS 60 59 50 5.9 270 245 8.8 surrounding inmate deaths in local jails Suicide 289 315 314 32.3 169 168 5.8 and State prisons nationwide. Homicide 17 22 20 2.1 39 48 1.5 Accident 25 35 35 3.3 23 31 0.9 Intoxication 37 58 54 5.2 35 37 1.2 To implement the Death in Custody Other/unknown 22 32 46 3.6 38 38 1.3 Reporting Act of 2000 (PL 106-297), BJS began collecting inmate death State prison, local jail suicide rates have fallen sharply since the 1980’s records from all local jails in 2000 and w In 2002 the suicide rate in local expanded reporting to include State Suicides per 100,000 inmates jails (47 per 100,000 inmates) was prisons in 2001. In this first report from 140 over 3 times the rate in State prisons the Deaths in Custody Reporting 120 (14 per 100,000 inmates). Program, data from 2000 to 2002 100 The suicide rate in the Nation’s highlight inmate and facility character- w 80 50 largest jail systems (29 per istics related to high risks of suicide Jails 100,000 inmates) was half that and homicide. 60 of other jails (57 per 100,000). 40 Prisons Jail suicide rates declined steadily from 20 y Violent offenders in both local jails 129 per 100,000 inmates in 1983 to 47 0 (92 per 100,000) and State prisons per 100,000 in 2002. In 1983 suicide 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 (19 per 100,000) had suicide rates accounted for the majority of jail deaths over twice as high as those of nonvio- (56%), but by 2002, the most common lent offenders (31 and 9 per 100,000 cause of jail deaths was natural respectively). causes (including AIDS) (52%), well ahead of suicides (32%). Suicide rates Homicide rates in State prisons dropped 93% from 1980 to 2002 in State prison fell from 34 per 100,000 Homicides per 100,000 inmates y Homicide rates were similar in in 1980 to 16 per 100,000 in 1990, and 60 local jails (3 per 100,000) and State prisons (4 per 100,000). have since stabilized. 50 y 67% of homicide victims in State State prison homicide rates dipped 40 prisons had served at least 2 years; sharply from 1980 (54 per 100,000) to 30 37% had served 5 years. 1990 (8 per 100,000). By 2002 prison Prisons 20 homicide rates had declined further, y Violent offenders were the victims down to 4 per 100,000. Homicide rates 10 Jails of most State prison homicides in local jails were more stable, declin- (61%), and their jail homicide rate 0 ing slightly from 5 per 100,000 in 1983 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 (5 per 100,000) was over twice that to 3 per 100,000 in 2002. of nonviolent offenders (2 per 100,000). The Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2000 (A) the name, gender, race, ethnicity, and age of the deceased; The passage of the Death in Custody Reporting Act of (B) the date, time, and location of death; and 2000 (DICRA, PL 106-297) dramatically altered programs (C) a brief description of the circumstances surround- collecting data on inmate deaths. Prior to the act, BJS ing the death." conducted annual counts of State prisoner deaths. Counts of jail inmate deaths were collected in the Census of Jails, BJS developed a new series of collections to meet the which is conducted every 5 or 6 years. For both popula- mandates of the act. Aggregate counts of deaths were tions, death counts were obtained by gender and by replaced by detailed, individual inmate death records, general cause categories, such as illness/natural causes, collected every 3 months from over 3,000 jail jurisdictions, AIDS, suicide, and homicide. These aggregate counts of 50 State prison systems, juvenile correctional authorities deaths did not allow for analysis of individual death cases. in all 50 States, and roughly 18,000 State and local law enforcement agencies nationwide. These new data collect- DICRA was attached as a grant requirement of the Violent ions were phased in over 4 years, with local jails reporting Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing (VOI/TIS) in 2000, followed by State prisons in 2001 and State incentive grant program. Beginning in 1996, these grants juvenile authorities in 2002. A network of statewide law provided over $2.5 billion to all 50 States and U.S. Territo- enforcement reporters began submitting arrest-related ries for expanding prison capacity to house violent offend- death records to BJS in 2003. ers for longer periods. Each State receiving VOI/TIS funds was required under DICRA to report: With these new collections, BJS has enhanced both the frequency and scope of its data on inmate mortality. "on a quarterly basis, information regarding the death Among other improvements, BJS now collects information of any person who is in the process of arrest, on specific medical causes of death, as determined by a is en route to be incarcerated, or is incarcerated at a coroner or medical examiner. BJS replaced a general municipal or county jail, State prison, or other local or category of "illness/natural causes," with specific catego- State correctional facility (including any juvenile facil- ries of medical conditions related to mortality, such as ity) that, at a minimum, includes — cancer, heart disease, and hepatitis C. A detailed analysis of these fatal medical conditions will be the focus of the next report from this data collection series. Long term trends show steep declines in rates of State prisoner homicide and local jail inmate suicide Over the past two decades, State prison and local jail Local jail inmate mortality rate, per 100,000 inmates inmate mortality rates have displayed some dynamic All Illness/ changes. Suicide was the leading cause of death among Year causes natural cause AIDS Suicide Homicide jail inmates in 1983 (129 per 100,000 inmates); by 1993 2002 147 69 8 47 3 2001 151 68 9 50 3 that rate had been cut by more than half (54 per 100,000 2000 147 74 10 47 3 inmates), and illness/natural cause (67 per 100,000) had 1999 154 64 13 54 5 1993 149 67 15 54 4 become the most common cause of jail deaths. By 2002 1988 199 82 20 85 3 the jail suicide rate (47 per 100,000) had fallen to nearly a 1983 232 88 -- 129 5 third of the 1983 rate. Rates of death from AIDS-related Note: Mortality rates are based on average daily population for each causes in jails also declined; the 2002 rate (8 per 100,000) year. Data on deaths for 1983-99 are from the Census of Jails; data was less than half of the 1988 rate (20 per 100,000). As a from 2000-02 are from the Deaths in Custody data series. result of these reductions, the overall mortality rate in local -- Not available. jails dropped 37% between 1983 and 2002. State prison inmate mortality rate, per 100,000 inmates All Illness/ State prison suicide rates have historically been much Year causes* natural cause AIDS Suicide Homicide lower than those of jails, but these also dropped sharply 2002 246 198 20 14 4 from 34 per 100,000 in 1980 to 14 per 100,000 inmates 2001 242 194 23 14 3 2000 238 190 15 16 5 in 2002. Even more dramatic was the decline in homicide 1995 308 165 100 16 9 deaths, from 54 per 100,000 inmates in 1980 to 8 per 1990 228 187 -- 16 8 1985 239 163 -- 26 24 100,000 inmates in 1990, and to 4 per 100,000 inmates 1980 233 141 -- 34 54 in 2002. With the introduction of new therapies during the Note: Mortality rates for 1980-2000 are based on death counts of 1990’s, AIDS-related mortality rates in State prison fell sentenced prisoners and the December 31 jurisdiction population as rapidly from 100 per 100,000 inmates in 1995 to 15 per collected in the National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) program. Rates for 100,000 inmates 5 years later. Overall State prisoner mor- 2001-02 are based on counts from the Deaths in Custody Reporting tality rates have grown slightly (6%) since 1980, mostly Program and the NPS June 30 custody population count. *Excludes executions. -- Not available. due to illness/natural causes (up 40% since 1980). 2 Suicide and Homicide in State Prisons and Local Jails Table 1. State prison jurisdictions: Number of prisoner deaths, suicides, and Nationwide, 337 State prisoners homicides, and mortality rates, per 100,000 prisoners in custody, 2001-02 committed suicide during 2001-02 Average annual mortality rate Suicide and homicide accounted for a Number of prisoner (2001-02) per 100,000 combined 7% of all State prisoner Region and deaths, 2001-02 prisoners held at midyear jurisdiction All causes Suicide Homicide All causes Suicide Homicide deaths during 2001-02 (table 1).