Welcome to the September 2023 Bureau of Justice Assistance Death in Custody Reporting Act (DCRA) training series.
This training will discuss reporting deaths from the full universe. This is the first installment in a training series of videos designed to help states comply with DCRA, Public Law 113-242. This training will focus on the universe of reporting agencies, open source, medical examiners/coroners, and zero reports. A link to the slides can be found in the video description below.
The "universe of reporting agencies" refers to the totality of all possible reporting agencies within a state, regardless of whether they experience a death or not during the reporting period. This includes, but is not limited to: local law enforcement agencies and facilities such as police departments, sheriff's offices, municipal or county jails, and lockup/holding cells; state law enforcement agencies and correctional facilities such as state police, highway patrol, state prisons, state-run bootcamp prisons and contracted bootcamp prisons; and other local or state correctional facilities such as juvenile facilities and halfway houses or treatment facilities operated by, or under contract with, the state.
State Administering Agencies (SAA) can determine their universe of reporting agencies using resources such as the Bureau of Justice Statistics Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reporting Program, the Bureau of Justice Statistics National Prisoner Statistics Program, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics Annual Survey of Jails. In a few cases, a state may contract out with an out-of-state facility to house incarcerated individuals.
For the purpose of DCRA data collection, the state that is in physical possession of the decedent is responsible for reporting the death in custody. For example, Idaho Department of Correction contracts with Saguaro Correctional Center, a private prison in Eloy, Arizona. Although these incarcerated individuals are under the jurisdiction of Idaho, Arizona's SAA should report any deaths in custody at the facility. If an SAA contracts with an out-of-state facility BJA encourages both state's SAAs to work together to ensure deaths in custody do not go unreported or reported by both states.
Apart from collecting data from the universe of reporting agencies identified by the state, SAAs may also use open source to improve their data collection efforts. "Open source" refers to free, publicly accessible databases that collect and compile information for awareness and use in research. Open-source databases that collect law enforcement data include, but are not limited to, Mapping Police Violence and Washington Post Fatal Force. These resources are a great tool to verify information submitted by the state and local agencies to SAAs as well as capture unreported deaths in custody.
In this example, we present the Washington Post Fatal Force database launched in January 2015. The database logs information on fatal police shootings in the United States. It is user-friendly and can be searched using several variables such as victim name, age, race, city, state, police department, and year of shooting.
Another way to improve data collection efforts is by partnering with medical examiners and coroners. Medical examiners' and coroners' offices conduct death scene investigations, perform autopsies, and determine the cause and manner of death. Some states have laws in place that require all in-custody and arrest-related deaths to be investigated and/or reported to medical examiners and coroners. When working with medical examiners and coroners, take care to see what gaps they have in their data. Occasionally, states submit a zero report. A "zero report" refers to a report submitted by the SAA to BJA affirming that no reportable deaths have occurred over the period in question. If a state submits a zero report, BJA will reach out to the SAA to confirm that they have not identified any deaths using their current data collection practices. BJA recommends that state and local agencies submit zero reports to the SAAs in any reporting period that a death does not occur as best practice for more comprehensive data collection.
Key takeaways from this training are: states should move towards collecting data from the full universe of reporting agencies. It is very important for states to ensure they collect data on, and report deaths from, each of the main categories, namely, arrest-related deaths, jail-related deaths, and prison-related deaths.
Thank you for viewing our training on reporting deaths from the full universe. If you have any questions, please contact the BJA PMT Helpdesk. Our office hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, except federal holidays.
For general questions about DCRA, please contact James Steyee at [email protected]. We also offer no-cost training and technical assistance through our DCRA TTA provider, Justice Information Resource Network.
BJA thanks SAAs for their hard work and dedication to complete and accurate DCRA reporting.
