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Abstract: 

BJS has released its annual mortality rates for U.S. prisons and jails. The figures are for calendar year 2014, the most recent for which complete data is available and were compiled under the Bureau’s Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP).The number of inmates who died while in the custody of local jails or state prisons increased for the fourth consecutive year. At the same time the BJS released its report, the National Center for Health Statistics, a division of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released “Deaths: Final Data for 2014,” which summarizes figures on mortality collated for the National Vital Statistics Report and issued annually. This article summarizes the main findings of both reports, and compares rates and causes of death in jails, prisons, and the general public. Tables include “Death Rates in Federal, State, and Local Jails, and the U.S.,” “Mortality Rates by Age,” “Mortality Rate By Selected Cause of Death” for jails, prisons, and the U.S. population; and “Suicide Rates by Age” for Prisons, Jails, and the U.S.

Keywords: Deaths in Custody Reporting Program; National Prisoner Statistics; Deaths: Final Data (CDC)

Affiliations:  1: Correctional Health Care Report.