BJS: Mortality in local jails (2000-2007)

The DOJ's Bureau of Justice Statistics puts out a lot of pretty interesting stuff, but sometimes you have to dig into the data to find out what it really means. This is just a press release for their latest report. Curious that they make no reference to deaths due to accident, negligence, abuse, or homicide. Technically, I believe, Marcia Powell's death was considered an "accident"; how do they track when such accidents are caused by law enforcement?

Good news that suicides are down - now the suicide rate in jail is only three times that of the general population.

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ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 10:00 A.M. EDT	Bureau of Justice Statistics
WEDNESDAY, JULY 7, 2010	Contact: Kara McCarthy (202) 307-1241
HTTP://BJS.OJP.USDOJ.GOV/	After hours: (202) 598-0556

MORTALITY RATES IN LOCAL JAILS CONTINUE TO DECLINE

WASHINGTON – Mortality rates in local jails declined over the period from 2000 through 2007, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, announced today. A total of 8,110 jail inmates died in custody of local jails over the study period, during which the mortality rate declined from 152 deaths per 100,000 jail inmates in 2000 to 141 per 100,000 in 2007.

During any given year of the eight-year study, more than 80 percent of the approximately 3,000 jail jurisdictions nationwide had no deaths in their custody. During the entire eight-year study period, more than four in 10 jails (42 percent) had no deaths. Among jails reporting at least one death during the entire study period, the majority (83 percent) reported only one death.

Suicide was the single leading cause of death in local jails, accounting for 29 percent of all jail deaths. Between 2000 and 2007, the suicide rate declined from 48 to 36 per 100,000, continuing a longer decline from 129 per 100,000 in 1983.

Deaths from any illness-related cause accounted for more than half (53 percent) of all deaths in local jails. Heart disease was the single leading illness-related cause of death, accounting for 22 percent of all deaths in local jails. Deaths from AIDS-related causes accounted for five percent of all deaths in jails.

During the eight-year period, the largest jails (those with an average daily population of 1,000 inmates or more) held 49 percent of the total jail population and accounted for 52 percent of all deaths in jails. The smallest jails (those with an average daily population of fewer than 50 inmates) held four percent of the jail population and accounted for seven percent of jail deaths.

Smaller jails had the highest mortality rates largely due to suicide. In jails holding an average of fewer than 50 inmates, the mortality rate of 284 per 100,000 inmates was almost twice the national average (145 per 100,000). Suicide rates were highest in smallest jails (169 per 100,000) and lowest in the 50 largest jails (27 per 100,000).

Nearly a quarter (24 percent) of jail deaths occurred within two days of admission; more than one-third (38 percent) within the first seven days; and more than half (56 percent) within 30 days.

Suicide rates in jails were more than three times higher than in the general population. Between 2000 and 2006, when comparable data were available, suicide was the only cause of death that occurred at a higher rate in local jails than in the general population (47 per 100,000 vs 13 per 100,000), after adjusting for differences associated with age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin.

BJS collected these data on deaths in local jails in response to the Deaths in Custody Reporting Act (DICRA) (P.L. 106-297). DICRA required the collection of individual-level records of deaths occuring in jails, in state prisons and during the process of arrest. BJS collects data on deaths in local jails and in state prisons through its Deaths in Custody Reporting Program and on arrest-related deaths through its Arrest-Related Deaths collection.

The report, Mortality in Local Jails, 2000-2007 (NCJ 222988), was written by BJS statistician Margaret Noonan. Following publication, the report can be found at http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov.

For additional information about the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ statistical reports and programs, please visit the BJS Web site at http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/.

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The Office of Justice Programs (OJP), headed by Assistant Attorney General Laurie O. Robinson, provides federal leadership in developing the nation’s capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice, and assist victims. OJP has seven components: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; the Office for Victims of Crime; the Community Capacity Development Office, and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking. More information about OJP can be found at http://www.ojp.gov.

Arizona's Criminalized Children and Victimization.

I've made my comment about this for now. Here's AZ's contribution to the report referred to below. The Phoenix New Times has been doing some excellent work on the issue of juvenile justice and corrections in Arizona of late. This is their whole post on this issue, but link back there for their other stories.
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Arizona Juvenile Facilities Report High Sex Activity With Staff; State Above Average for Incidents in National Survey

By Ray Stern in News, The Kids are Not All Right

Thu., Jan. 7 2010 @ 4:29PM

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Arizona's incarcerated juveniles are having sex with staff members at one of the highest rates in the country, according to a survey published by the U.S. Department of Justice.

In a survey of thousands of kids held in juvie halls across the United States, 10.3 percent reported some kind of sexual victimization by staff members. Another 2.6 percent reported being victimized by another youth. While no Arizona facility made the DOJ's list of the 13 worst offenders, the state's three juvenile prisons came shamefully close. In just about every category of offenses, the percentages of victimization in the state's three facilities were above average.

Nationally, the most frequent kind of sexual victimization involved a female staff member and male youth.

Here are a couple of the Arizona highlights:

* Inmates at Adobe Mountain reported a high rate of staff members forcing them to have sex. The weighted percentage of 11.2 of inmates reporting use of force by staff is the 11th highest of all facilities in that category.

* Survey participants at Catalina Mountain and the now-closed Eagle Point reported a very high overall number of sexual victimization: 23.8 percent and 23.5 percent respectively. (Adobe Mountain inmates reported 16.9 percent in this category). The average for this category is 12.1 percent, and only 14 of the 195 facilities reported a percentage of 24 or higher.

As New Times recently reported, sexual misconduct isn't the only problem at Arizona's juvenile facilities. And the problems have been going on for years, as New Times readers should know.

Maybe, someday, someone will start caring about these kids.

Click here for the government's survey in PDF format.