Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2000 (DICRA)

Deaths in Custody Reporting Program BJS initiated the DCRP in response to the Death in Custody Reporting Act (DICRA) of 2000 (P.L. 106-297), which encouraged states to report certain information related to the deaths of individuals in the custody of law enforcement agencies. BJS developed three data collection efforts under the DCRP; these obtained data on deaths in state prisons, in local jails, and in the process of arrest to include deaths occurring in police lockups. BJS has collected data under the DCRP since 2000 and currently collects data directly from state prisons and local jails.

BJS initiated the DCRP in response to the Death in Custody Reporting Act (DICRA) of 2000 (P.L. 106-297), which encouraged states to report certain information related to the deaths of individuals in the custody of law enforcement agencies. BJS developed three data collection efforts under the DCRP; these obtained data on deaths in state prisons, in local jails, and in the process of arrest to include deaths occurring in police lockups. BJS has collected data under the DCRP since 2000 and currently collects data directly from state prisons and local jails.

The Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP) collects data on deaths of inmates who are in the custody of local jails or state prisons. Local jail and state prison data are collected directly from jails and state departments of corrections. The DCRP provides individual-level data on the number of deaths by year, cause of death, and decedent age, race or Hispanic origin, and sex. These data are also used to produce facility and population mortality rates.