U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics -------------------------------------------------- This file is text only without graphics and many of the tables. A Zip archive of the tables in this report in spreadsheet format (.csv) and the full report including tables and graphics in .pdf format are available on BJS website at:http://bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4558 -------------------------------------------------- Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000–2010 - Statistical Tables Margaret E. Noonan, BJS Statistician During 2010, 4,150 inmates died while in the custody of local jails and state prisons--a 5% decline from 2009. Local jails accounted for about a quarter of all inmate deaths, with 918 inmates who died in custody in 2010. The number of jail inmate deaths declined from 2009 to 2010 (down 3%), while the mortality rate remained relatively stable, from 127 deaths per 100,000 jail inmates in 2009 to 125 per 100,000 in 2010. The five leading causes of jail inmate deaths were suicide, heart disease, drug or alcohol intoxication, cancer, and liver disease. Most inmates who died in custody were serving time in state prisons (78%). In 2010, 3,232 state prison inmates died in custody--a 5% decline from 2009. The mortality rate in state prisons declined slightly, from 252 deaths per 100,000 prison inmates in 2009 to 245 per 100,000 in 2010. The five leading causes of state prison inmate deaths were heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease, liver disease, and suicide. The data in this report were developed from the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS) Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP), an annual data collection that documents inmate mortality in local jails and state prisons. Annual collection of data from jails began in 2000, followed by prisons in 2001. This report examines deaths of inmates in state prison and local jail custody between 2000 and 2010. Statistical tables provide information about the causes and circumstances of local jail and state prison inmate deaths and present trends by cause of death, selected decedent characteristics, and states where the jails and prisons were located. ************************** Mortality in local jails ************************** ***************** Cause of death ***************** * The number of inmates who died while in the custody of local jails declined in 2010, falling to 918 from the 951 deaths in 2009, representing the third consecutive annual decrease since the number of jail deaths peaked at 1,100 in 2007 (table 1). * Suicide, the leading cause of local jail inmate deaths, remained at about the same level in 2010 (305 suicides) as in 2009 (304), although the number has trended upward slightly since 2006. *** Footnote * The number of suicides reported for 2008 is undercounted due to the relatively large number (n=203 or 22% of deaths in 2008) of local jail deaths missing information about cause of death. For of trend comparisons, the 2008 counts classified by cause of death are omitted from the discussion.*** * The number of jail inmate deaths from heart disease increased in 2010 to 240, up from 199 occurring in 2009. The annual average number of heart disease deaths was 222 over the past 10 years (excluding 2008 data as noted above). * The five leading causes of jail inmate deaths in 2010--suicide, heart disease, drug or alcohol intoxication, cancer, and liver diseases--were the same as in 2009. In all years prior to 2009, AIDS-related deaths were among the five leading causes of death (table 2). * Since an initial decline in 2008, the mortality rate for jail inmates-- 125 per 100,000 inmates in 2010--has remained relatively unchanged (123 per 100,000). Likewise, the annual mortality rate between 2000 and 2008 showed little variation, increasing or decreasing between 1% and 3% (table 3). * The suicide rate in local jails declined over time from 49 per 100,000 inmates in 2001 to 36 per 100,000 in 2007. Since 2007, the rate has increased slightly to reach 42 per 100,000 inmates in 2010 (excluding 2008 data as noted above). * Jail inmates died of heart disease at a rate of 33 per 100,000 inmates in 2010, similar to rates between 2000 and 2006, but was slightly above the rate of 27 per 100,000 inmates in 2009. ************************* Decedent characteristics ************************* * In 2010, males accounted for nearly 9 out of 10 jail inmate deaths (88%). In any single year between 2000 and 2010, males accounted for no less than 87% of jail deaths (table 5). * Prior to 2008, the annual male rate was no more than 24% above the female rate, with the difference in most years being about 10% (table 6). * From 2008 through 2010, the male and female mortality rates were about equal, signifying a convergence in their respective rates over time. Mortality rates for white and black inmates in 2010 were nearly equal to the mortality rates in 2009. * The Hispanic mortality rate declined from 72 to 60 per 100,000 inmates from 2009 to 2010, which was one of the largest single year declines for Hispanic jail inmate deaths between 2000 and 2010. ****************************** State-level jail populations ****************************** * California, Texas, New York, and Florida together reported about a third of jail deaths in 2010. These states also had the largest jail populations, comprising 32% of the total jail population in 2010 (table 7). * Between 2000 and 2010, nearly all (97% to 99%) of the approximately 2,800 jail jurisdictions in the United States submitted population and mortality data to the DCRP. These jurisdictions reported a total of 10,923 deaths over the 11-year period (table 9). ******************************************* Cause of death by decedent characteristics, 2000 to 2010 average annual trends ******************************************* * Between 2000 and 2010, about a third (767 or 32%) of heart disease deaths occurred within seven days of the inmate’s admission to jail. Less than 10% of jail inmate deaths due to cancer (4%) and AIDS related illnesses (7%) occurred in the first seven days (table 10). * Between 2000 and 2010, the male suicide rate (42 per 100,000 male inmates) was 55% higher than the rate for females (27 per 100,000 female inmates) (table 11). * White jail inmates committed suicide (80 per 100,000) at a rate that was more than 3 times that of Hispanics (25 per 100,000) and more than 5 times that of black jail inmates (15 per 100,000). * Jail inmates age 55 or older had the highest suicide rate and committed suicide at twice the rate of jail inmates ages 18 to 24, who had the lowest suicide rate. * Jails reported 60 suicides per 100,000 inmates age 55 or older, compared to 28 suicides per 100,000 inmates ages 18 to 24. * Between 2000 and 2010, 9 out of every 100,000 jail inmates who were age 55 or older died as a victim of homicide, a rate that was between 1.8 and 4.4 times higher than the homicide mortality rate of younger inmates. **************************** Mortality in state prisons **************************** **************** Cause of death **************** * The number of inmates dying while in the custody of state prisons declined from 3,414 in 2009 to 3,232 in 2010, for a total decrease of 5%, which is the largest decline in the number of prison deaths since 2001 when the DCRP began collecting data on prison deaths (table 12). * In 2010, cancer was the most common cause of death in prisons, followed by heart disease, respiratory disease, liver disease and suicide. In each year between 2001 and 2010, cancer and heart disease combined accounted for about half of all prison deaths (table 13). * In 2010, the cancer mortality rate in state prisons (68 per 100,000) exceeded the heart disease mortality rate (65 per 100,000) for the second consecutive year (table 14). * AIDS-related deaths were among the five leading causes of death in prison in 2001 and 2002. The AIDS-related mortality rate declined 76% between 2001 and 2010. * Between 2001 and 2010, suicide was among the five leading causes of deaths in prison in all but two years. For the same period, the prisoner suicide rate was nearly equal to both the liver and respiratory disease mortality rates but was consistently about 4 times lower than heart disease and cancer mortality rates. *************************** Decedent characteristics *************************** * In 2010, males accounted for nearly all prisoner deaths (96%). In any single year between 2001 and 2010, males accounted for no less than 95% of prison deaths (table 16). * The mortality rate for prisoners age 55 or older declined 27% in 2010, while the population of prisoners age 55 or older increased by a third (table 17). * In 2010, male prisoners died at twice the rate of female prisoners. The male mortality rate among prisoners declined 4% between 2009 and 2010, and the female mortality rate declined 20% during the same period. * White prison inmates had the highest mortality rate of all race or ethnic groups between 2001 and 2010, with a mortality rate between 1.4 and 2.3 times higher than any other race or ethnic group in any single year in the 10-year period. ******************************** State-level prison populations ******************************** * Half of the 50 state departments of corrections reported a decrease in the number of deaths occurring in state prisons between 2009 and 2010, with eight reporting a decline of more than 25% in the number (table 19). * The federal prisoner mortality rate peaked at 233 deaths per 100,000 prisoners in 2005 before declining 18% to 192 per 100,000 in 2006. The rate declined again to 179 deaths per 100,000 inmates in 2010 (table 20). ****************************** Cause of death by decedent characteristics ******************************* * Over the 10-year period between 2001 and 2010, male prisoners were 1.7 times more likely to die than female prisoners. Heart disease-related mortality contributed to the largest difference between male and female prisoner mortality rates, with male prisoners 3.4 times more likely to die of heart disease than female prisoners (table 23). * White prison inmates were, on average, 3 times more likely than black inmates to commit suicide over the 10-year period. * On average, over the 10 years between 2001 and 2010, black prison inmates had an AIDS-related mortality rate at least twice that of prison inmates of any other race or ethnic group. * Both heart disease and cancer had the largest differences in mortality rates by age of inmates, with rates for inmates age 55 or older at least 5 times higher than any other age group. * Liver disease had the smallest differences in mortality rates by age, with inmates age 55 or older dying at a rate that was 1.9 times that of inmates between ages 45 to 54. * On average, over the 10 years from 2001 to 2010, age had little differences in suicide rates, with prisoners committing suicide at nearly equal rates, across age groups. ************************ Cause of death by state ************************ * The mortality rate for state prisoners for the 10-year period between 2001 and 2010 varied between 155 deaths per 100,000 inmates and 439 deaths per 100,000 inmates, with a median rate of 244 deaths per 100,000 inmates (table 25). * Mortality rates between states are not directly comparable because rates are not adjusted for differences in age, sex, race, geographic location, and any other characteristics. ****************** List of tables ****************** Table 1 Number of local jail inmate deaths, by cause of death, 2000–2010 5 Table 2 Percent of local jail inmate deaths, by cause of death, 2000–2010 5 Table 3 Mortality rate per 100,000 local jail inmates, by cause of death, 2000– 2010 6 Table 4 Number of local jail inmate deaths, by selected decedent characteristics, 2000–2010 6 Table 5 Percent of local jail inmate deaths, by selected decedent characteristics, 2000–2010 7 Table 6 Mortality rate per 100,000 local jail inmates, by selected decedent characteristics, 2000–2010 8 Table 7 Number of jail deaths, by state and year, 2000–2010 9 Table 8 Mortality rate per 100,000 local jail inmates, by state, 2000–2010 10 Table 9 Number of jail jurisdictions reporting to the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, by state and year, 2000–2010 11 Table 10 Number of local jail inmate deaths, by cause of death and selected decedent characteristics, 2000–2010 12 Table 11 Average annual mortality rate per 100,000 local jail inmates, by cause of death and selected characteristics, 2000–2010 13 Table 12 Number of state prisoner deaths, by cause of death, 2001-2010 13 Table 13 Percent of state prisoner deaths, by cause of death, 2001–2010 14 Table 14 Mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners, by cause of death, 2001–2010 14 Table 15 Number of state prisoner deaths, by selected characteristics, 2001–2010 15 Table 16 Percent of state prisoner deaths, by selected characteristics, 2001–2010 15 Table 17 Estimated number of state prisoners in custody at midyear, by selected characteristics, 2001–2010 16 Table 18 Mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners, by selected characteristics, 2001–2010 16 Table 19 Number of state prisoner deaths, by state, 2001–2010 17 Table 20 Mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners, by state, 2001–2010 18 Table 21 Number of state prisoner deaths, by cause of death and selected characteristics, 2001–2010 19 Table 22 Percent of state prisoner deaths, by cause of death and selected characteristics, 2001–2010 19 Table 23 Average mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners, by cause of death and selected characteristics, 2001–2010 20 Table 24 Number of state prisoner deaths, by cause of death and state, 2001–2010 21 Table 25 Average mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners, by cause of death and state, 2001–2010 22 ************ Methodology ************ ************************** Data collection coverage ************************** The Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP) is an annual data collection conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). The DCRP collects national, state, and incident-level data on persons who died while in the physical custody of the 50 state departments of corrections or the roughly 3,000 local adult jail jurisdictions nationwide. The DCRP began in 2000 under the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2000 (P.L. 106- 297), and it is the only national statistical collection to obtain comprehensive information about deaths in adult correctional facilities. BJS uses DCRP data to track national trends in the number and causes (or manners) of deaths occurring in state prison or local jail custody. Mortality data measured by the DCRP include decedent characteristics, such as sex, race and ethnicity, age, date of admission, conviction status, admission offense, and the location and type of facility (prison or jail) where the inmate died. The DCRP also collects data about circumstances surrounding the death, including the cause, time and location death occurred, and information on whether an autopsy was conducted and the availability of results to the respondent. In cases of deaths due to illness, the DCRP collects data on whether the decedent had a pre-existing medical condition for which he or she received medical treatment prior to death. Data on executions are excluded from this report but are accessible on the BJS website along with the DCRP mortality data. Statistics presented in this report are current as of September 1, 2012. For more information on mortality in correctional settings, see Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2007, BJS website, NCJ 222988, July 2010; Medical Causes of Death in State Prisons, 2001–2004, BJS website, NCJ 216340, January 2007; and Suicide and Homicide in State Prisons and Local Jails, BJS website, NCJ 210036, August 2005. The DCRP data collection instruments are administered annually to both state prisons and local jails. Respondents provide an aggregate count of the number of deaths that occurred during the referenced calendar year. State prison respondents provide counts through the National Prisoner Statistics data collection, and local jails provide aggregate counts through the Annual Survey of Jails. The jail (CJ-9) and prison (NPS-4A) survey instruments used to obtain data on each prison and jail death are available on the BJS website. In addition to the death count, BJS requests that jails provide summary statistics about their population and admissions. All jails, including those with no deaths to report, which includes about 80% of jails in any given year, are asked to complete the annual summary survey form. BJS obtains a separate report describing decedent characteristics and the circumstances surrounding the death for each death occurring in a state prison or local jail. State prison and local jail respondents can submit individual records on decedents at any time during a collection cycle through a BJS web-based collection system, accessible at https://bjsdcrp.rti.org/. BJS has modified the survey instruments slightly over time, including changes to clarify questions and respondent burden. Several questions were added to capture any medical treatment received by the inmate prior to death. Changes also allowed respondents to elaborate on cause of death by adding text boxes to the intoxication, suicide, and inmate-involved homicide death questions. These fields had previously only been available for deaths due to illness, accident, homicides not caused by other inmates, and other unspecified causes. In addition, BJS clarified respondent instructions on the prison forms and removed a question collecting the conviction status of an inmate after an analysis showed that more than 99% of prison inmates were convicted at the time of death. BJS also streamlined the survey layout to simplify the progression through questions related to autopsies. Rather than initially submitting an incomplete instrument that indicated pending autopsy results, respondents were permitted to complete the entire survey only after autopsy results were available. This change reduced follow-up contact and respondent burden. Starting in 2001, and annually thereafter, BJS has collected DCRP data directly from state prison systems, maintaining a 100% response rate. The jail universe includes all jails currently operating and jails that have been contacted for the DCRP but have closed, consolidated, or otherwise eliminated operations. This universe allows BJS to determine jail participation in the DCRP. The most recent jail universe, constructed in 2012, identified 2,821 jurisdictions, representing 3,236 jail facilities. Of these, 2,753 (97.6%) participated in the DCRP, a slight decrease from the 98% to 99% participation in previous years. A jail jurisdiction is a legal entity that has responsibility for managing jail facilities. Jail jurisdictions typically operate at the county level, in which a sheriff’s office or jail administrator manages the local facilities. The DCRP data identify the jail facility in which a jail inmate dies, but the data are arrayed at the jail jurisdiction level. BJS defines a jail as a locally operated correctional facility that confines persons before or after adjudication for more than 72 hours, excluding temporary lockups. Typically, there is one facility per jail jurisdiction, but the 2006 Census of Jail Facilities found that 15% of jail jurisdictions had multiple facilities under a central authority (see BJS website for more information). ***************************** Determining eligibility for reporting to DCRP ****************************** In the DCRP, the term “custody” refers to the holding of an inmate in a facility or to the period during which a correctional authority maintains a chain of custody over an inmate. For instance, if a jail transports an ill inmate to a hospital for medical services and that inmate dies while in the chain of custody of the jail, that death is counted as a death in custody. A death that occurs when an inmate is not in the custody of correctional authority is considered beyond the scope of DCRP. Out-of- scope deaths include inmates on escape status or under the supervision of community corrections on probation, parole, or home-electronic monitoring. BJS instructs both state prison and local jail officials to determine whether the inmate was in the physical custody of the jurisdiction at the time of death, regardless of the reason an inmate was being held. For state prisons responding to the survey, inmates in physical custody include those held in any private prison facility under contract to the responding state’s department of corrections or in any of their state- operated facilities, including halfway houses, prison camps or farms, training or treatment centers, and prison hospitals. BJS instructs state prison officials to exclude deaths of inmates who were transferred to local jails while still serving a prison term because the DCRP obtains information about such deaths through the jail reports. Jail inmate custody includes inmates who are temporarily out of the jail facility but are within the chain of custody of the jail. For example, a death in custody would include jail inmates who died after being transferred to an offsite facility that cares for critically ill persons. Between 2000 and 2010, the DCRP data show that more than a third (41%) of jail inmate deaths occurred in medical facilities outside of the jail facility. Custody is further complicated by the dual law enforcement and jail administration functions of some sheriffs’ offices. As a result, some deaths reported as jail deaths actually occurred before the jail had custody of the decedent. BJS identifies and excludes from DCRP these deaths that occurred in the process of arrest by using information about the circumstances surrounding the death. **************************** Identifying and excluding duplicate records **************************** Duplicate death records may occur in the DCRP due to overlapping correctional populations as well as overlapping duties within correctional facilities. For example, a jail jurisdiction may have more than one unit responsible for reporting data to BJS, or a jail may be holding a state prison inmate. Multiple entities may report the same death, or state prison systems may report on the death of an inmate who was transferred to a local jail but was serving a prison sentence at the time. To identify duplicate death records, BJS reconciles the aggregate summary counts of deaths occurring during a calendar year with the number of individual death records obtained from a reporting jurisdiction. When discrepancies are found, BJS contacts reporting jurisdictions to clarify matters. However, even if summary counts and individual reports are reconciled, there may be duplicates if multiple reporting units within a jurisdiction provide reconciled data. Duplicate records occur primarily in reports from jail jurisdictions that have multiple reporting entities. To identify duplicate records, BJS performs record-matching based on inmate name and date of birth, date of death, and date of admission into a correctional facility. After the aggregate count review, BJS searches for deaths reported to both the jail and prison DCRP collections, which most commonly occur when a local jail is housing an inmate for the state department of corrections. The death is considered part of the count of the facility that had custody of the inmate at the time of death, and the duplicate record is deleted. Overall, BJS’ review of death records between 2000 and 2010 found 108 jail and 346 prison deaths to be duplicates or beyond the scope of the DCRP. This results in error rates of 0.0099 for jails and 0.0108 for prisons. Duplicate and out-of-scope records are excluded from the analyses presented by BJS. *************************** Cause of death information *************************** The DCRP instructs respondents to report death information as determined by an autopsy or other official medical death investigation. For this collection, intoxication deaths, accidental deaths, suicides, and homicides are considered discrete causes of death. While there is a distinction between manner and cause of death from a medico-legal standpoint, no such distinction is made in the DCRP. When reporting a death due to illness, accident, suicide, intoxication, or homicide, BJS requests that respondents describe the events surrounding these deaths. Illness death descriptions are later converted by clinical data specialists into standard medical codes according to the World Health Organization’s International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). *********************************** Other BJS sources of correctional mortality data *********************************** BJS collects other data reported to the DCRP on correctional mortality and deaths that occur in the process of arrest. These other collections include-- * Capital Punishment, which provides data on legal executions. Further discussion on executions is accessible on the BJS website. * National Prisoner Statistics (NPS), which annually collected aggregate counts of deaths in state and federal prisons prior to the establishment of the DCRP. Prior to 2007, the NPS also collected counts of deaths by cause of death, including deaths due to execution, illness, AIDS, suicide, accident, homicide, and other causes. After 2006, the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) continued to submit counts of deaths by cause of death using the DCRP, but no longer provided counts of deaths using the NPS. Further discussion of the NPS is accessible on the BJS website. * The Census of Jail Inmates, conducted every 5 to 6 years, provides counts of inmate deaths in local jails. Further discussion of the Census of Jail Inmates is accessible on the BJS website. * The Survey of Jails in Indian Country (SJIC), which provides aggregate counts of the number of deaths occurring in all known Indian country correctional facilities operated by tribal authorities or the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs. Further discussion of the SJIC is accessible on the BJS website. * Arrest-Related Deaths (ARD), which obtains data on deaths that occurred during the process of arrest. State-level respondents provide details of deaths that occurred during arrest. Further discussion of ARD is accessible on the BJS website. ********************* Reported statistics ********************* Mortality data are shown in statistical tables by type of correctional institution (state prisons and local jails) and include the number of deaths and mortality rates by year, cause of death, selected decedent characteristics, and state. Mortality rates are calculated per 100,000 inmates, with the denominators providing estimates of the number of person-years of exposure in custody in institutional corrections. The mortality rate for state prisons is calculated as the number of deaths per year divided by the midyear state prison population in custody multiplied by 100,000. Midyear custody counts for state prisons provide estimates of person-years for prison populations. BJS uses data from the NPS to provide midyear custody counts of prisoners. The mortality rate in local jails is calculated as the number of deaths per year divided by the average daily jail inmate population (ADP) multiplied by 100,000. The ADP for local jails is defined as the average daily number of jail inmates held in a jail jurisdiction during a calendar year, from January 1 through December 31. The ADP is used as the denominator for jail mortality rates to accommodate the high turnover and daily fluctuation in local jail populations. Also, the ADP better reflects the number of inmate days per year than a one-day count. Jail populations have a higher turnover than prison populations; mean stay in local jails is about 21 days as compared to 2 years for state prisons. The jail ADP also reflects the annual number of admissions and mean length of stay, and can be expressed as the product of these two values. When mean length of stay is expressed in years, the ADP is equivalent to the number of person-years spent by jail inmates during a given year. BJS obtains the jail ADP data directly from jails through the DCRP (using the summary form, CJ-9A). Starting in 2002, BJS collected the ADP directly from respondents. Prior to 2002, BJS calculated the jail ADP by taking the average of the January 1 count from the prior year and the December 31 count from the reference year, which is an appropriate proxy measure for ADP. Both denominators provide for annualizing mortality rates, which are calculated separately by group or characteristic. The annualized mortality rates in state prisons and local jails are comparable to annual crude mortality rates reported by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). NCHS calculates crude mortality rates as the number of events for a period (e.g., a year) divided by the population estimate at the midpoint of the period. For general population mortality statistics, NCHS employs the midyear population as an approximation to the average population exposed to risk of death during any given year. For more information, see Siegal, J. & Swanson, D. (2004). The Methods and Materials of Demography, Second Edition. San Diego, CA: Elsevier Academic Press, 269. The crude mortality rates reported in the DCRP annual statistical tables are not directly comparable to the crude mortality rates within the (nonincarcerated) general population, and the crude mortality rates in state prisons are not directly comparable to those of local jails. The composition of the general population (age, sex, and race) differs from population in state prisons and local jails. Because mortality is correlated with age, race, and sex, the crude mortality rates in state prisons, local jails, and the general population should not be compared. Individual inmate death records collected annually in the death file are included in the national death count. Independent jail-specific summary death counts are collected on the annual summary form (CJ-9A) and serve as control death totals. If the death count in the summary form file is greater than the count in the individual inmate death file, the summary file count is used as the total count in calculating a jail mortality rate. For year 2010, individual records for jail inmate deaths were adjusted to match independent counts of deaths occurring in each jail and the mortality rates were adjusted accordingly. ********************************************* Estimating inmate population characteristics for use in calculating mortality rates by demographic subgroups ********************************************* BJS does not obtain annual data for all demographic characteristics of prison and jail inmates in all jurisdictions. BJS uses data from sources other than the DCRP to estimate the nationwide age, race, and sex composition of state prison and local jail inmate populations. These data sources consist primarily of periodic surveys of inmates in custody in prisons and jails. The inmate characteristic distributions obtained from these surveys are applied to denominators (counts of inmates or ADP) to estimate the number of inmates in each demographic subgroup. BJS estimated the demographic distribution of the state prison population data from the National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) and National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) collections. For a discussion on the methodology for obtaining estimates of the age, race, and sex distributions of state prisoners, see Prisoners in 2010 on the BJS website. Prior to BJS using NPS and NCRP to estimate demographic distributions, reports of mortality rates for state prison inmates used demographic distributions derived from BJS’ 2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities (SISCF). Consequently, the state prison mortality rates shown in these tables may differ from previously published rates. A rate comparison between the two sources showed very little difference in the resultant mortality rates. In most instances, the rates either matched or nearly matched. In only three instances did the rates differ (Hispanic in 2001; females and inmates ages 55 or older in 2002). In each instance, the rates calculated using population data from the NCRP and NPS were slightly higher (less than a 1% increase) than rates calculated using population data from the SISCF. To estimate the distributions of demographic attributes of the ADP for inmates, BJS used data from several surveys to generate distributions of age, sex, and race, and applied these distributions to the ADP. BJS’ Annual Survey of Jails (ASJ) provided estimates of the sex distribution of inmates for each year of the DCRP collection and applied these to each year’s ADP from the DCRP to estimate the average daily population of male and female jail inmates. The Jail Inmates at Midyear 2010 report documents that the distributions of inmate characteristics have changed slowly over time. For the most recent information on the ASJ, see the BJS website. To estimate the race and ethnic distribution of adult jail inmates, BJS used data from the Survey of Inmates in Local Jails (SILJ) and the National Inmate Survey (NIS) to estimate the relative distribution of adults by race and ethnic category for different periods. The SILJ estimates were used to cover the period from 2000 to 2004 and the NIS estimates were used to cover the period from 2005 to 2010. In both cases, the percentages associated with each race and ethnic category were applied to the adult jail average daily population. BJS did not annually collect data on the age distribution of jail populations. Rather, BJS obtained estimates of the age distribution of jail inmates from periodic surveys of jail inmates, including the 2002 Survey of Inmates in Local Jails (SILJ) and the National Inmate Survey (NIS) from 2007 through 2009, which are accessible on the BJS website. For more information about jail inmates in 2002, see Profile of Jail Inmates on the BJS website. To estimate the age distribution of the jail inmate population, BJS first obtained an estimate of the number of jail inmates under 18 years of age from the Annual Survey of Jails (ASJ). According to Jail Inmates at Midyear 2010 (table 6), annually from 2000 through 2010, the number of jail inmates under age 18 ranged between 6,100 and 7,615. By applying the annual percentage of jail inmates under age 18 to the annual average daily jail inmate population, we obtained an estimate of the average daily population of jail inmates under age 18. To estimate the age distribution of adult jail inmates, BJS used data from the Survey of Inmates in Local Jails (SILJ) and the National Inmate Survey (NIS) to estimate the relative distribution of adults by age category for different periods. We used the SILJ estimates to cover the period from 2000 to 2006 and the NIS estimates to cover the period from 2007 to 2009. In both cases, we applied the percentages associated with each age category to the adult jail average daily population. ***************************** Random error and suppression ***************************** The DCRP data on deaths in state prisons and local jails are not subject to sampling error. However, mortality data from a complete or near complete enumeration may be subject to random error. Following the methodology of Brillinger and NCHS, “the number of deaths that actually occurred may be considered as one of a large series of possible results that could have arisen under the same set of circumstances” (NCHS, 2007). The random variation can be large when the number of deaths is small; hence considerable caution is warranted when interpreting statistics based on small numbers of deaths. According to NCHS standards, mortality rates based on fewer than 100 deaths per year should be interpreted with caution. For more information on vital rates, see Brillinger, D. R. (1986). The natural variability of vital rates and associated statistics. Biometrics 42:693-734. See also the National Vital Statistics Reports. Deaths: Final Data for 2007, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr58/nvsr58_19.pdf. Continuing to use NCHS and Brillinger methods, we quantify random variation by assuming that the appropriate underlying distribution is a Poisson probability distribution. This provides for a computationally simple, as well as reasonable, approach to estimate variances for mortality statistics when the probability of dying is low. We calculated variances based on the assumption of a Poisson process and from these variances calculated “relative random error” estimates, which are comparable to relative standard error, in that the relative random error is the ratio of random error derived from the Poisson variance to the number of deaths. Following NCHS, when the relative random error exceeded 30 percent, we flagged estimated mortality rates due to the instability of the rate. ************************** Survey performance issues ************************** Survey administration and modifications to the survey form generated data for years 2007 through 2009 that may not be wholly compatible with prior DCRP data. In 2012, BJS identified a previously undetected data error mischaracterized over 600 illness-related deaths as illness-related deaths missing detailed cause of death information, leading to an inflated frequency of prison deaths in reference year 2007 being characterized as ‘all other illnesses’ while simultaneously depressing frequencies of known illnesses (i.e. heart disease, cancer, liver disease, etc). The error was identified and resolved, correcting the distributions. In 2008, local jail officials were unable to provide causes of death for 22% of jail inmate deaths. During 2009, BJS made modifications to the collection instruments to improve reporting and reduce burden. * Item nonresponse in 2008 jail data and unknown cause of death: An abnormally large number of cases were missing a response for cause of death in the 2008 jail file (n=203; 21.4% of all jail deaths in 2008). This coincided with the final year the U.S. Census Bureau acted as the data collection agent for DCRP. In prior years of the DCRP jail data collection, an average of 6% of all causes of death was classified as “other” or “unknown.” For the purposes of this report, BJS categorized all of these 203 jail deaths from 2008 as missing data about cause of death. * 2009 data collection: Prior to fielding the 2009 DCRP collection, BJS reviewed the data collection instrument and data submission procedures, and assessed the communications with DCRP respondents with the goal to reduce burden on respondents. The survey was modified to facilitate navigation and to encourage online response. The modifications led to delays in implementing data collection. As a result, death reports were not collected in the year the deaths occurred, but were instead collected retrospectively during 2010 for the first time. Data collection for subsequent years resumed on a normal schedule. ********************************************************* The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. James P. Lynch is the director. Margaret E. Noonan and RTI analyzed the data; the report was prepared by Margaret E. Noonan. E. Ann Carson verified the report. Kim Aspinwall carried out the data collection and processing with assistances provided by Sarah Love, under the supervision of Chris Ellis, RTI International. Scott Ginder and Todd Heinrich provided statistical and technical assistance, respectively. Catherine Bird, Jill Thomas, and Morgan Young edited the report, and Barbara Quinn produced the report, under the supervision of Doris J. James. December 2012, NCJ 239911 ****************************************************** ****************************************************** Office of Justice Programs * Innovation * Partnerships * Safer Neighborhoods * http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov ****************************************************** ______________________ 12/3/12/JER/2:35pm Revised 12/5/2012 4:50pm