There were 4,309 in-custody deaths in local jails or state prisons in 2012, an increase of two percent (67 deaths) from 2011, a federal study reports.
The number of deaths in local jails increased from 889 in 2011 to 958 in 2012, which marked the first increase since 2009. The increase in deaths in local jails was primarily due to an increase in illness-related deaths (up 24 percent).
These deaths accounted for 97 percent of the total increase in deaths in jails and prisons in 2012. The overall mortality rate in local jails increased four percent, from 123 deaths per 100,000 local jail inmates in 2011 to 128 deaths per 100,000 in 2012.
Suicide continued to be the leading cause of death in local jails (40 suicides per 100,000 jail inmates); however, the suicide rate declined four percent in 2012 and has declined 17 percent since 2000. Heart disease was the leading cause of illness-related deaths in local jails, increasing 14 percent in 2012.
The rate of AIDS-related deaths in local jails increased from two deaths per 100,000 inmates in 2011 to three per 100,000 in 2012, the first increase since 2006.
Despite the increase in 2012, AIDS-related deaths have decreased 63 percent in jails since 2000. Most jail jurisdictions (81 percent) reported no deaths in 2012, which was consistent with previous years.
In 2012, 3,351 deaths (78 percent of all deaths in correctional facilities) occurred in state prisons, which was nearly equal to the number of deaths in 2011 (3,353). Although the number of deaths in state prisons remained constant, the overall mortality rate in prisons increased two percent in 2012. The increase from 2011 to 2012 was largely due to decrease in the prison population.
Persons age 55 or older made up 55 percent of deaths in prisons, the U.S. Department of Justice report said.
Male prisoners accounted for 99 percent of homicides in state prisons from 2001 to 2012. The most common unnatural cause of death among female prisoners from 2001 to 2012 was suicide.
Male prisoners had higher mortality rates than female prisoners, regardless of cause of death. With the exception of AIDS-related deaths, White prisoners had the highest average annual mortality rate for all illness-related causes of death from 2001 to 2012. AIDS-related deaths were highest among Black prisoners (18 deaths per 100,000 state prisoners) and were at least two times higher than for prisoners of different races or Hispanic origin.
From 2001 to 2012, the suicide rate for prisoners age 17 or younger was nearly twice that of older inmates.
Cancer was the leading cause of illness-related deaths of state prisoners, at 10,122, followed by heart disease at 9,874.
Illness-related deaths accounted for more than half of all deaths in local jails in 2012. Heart disease (28 percent) continued to be the leading cause of illness-related deaths in local jails in 2012.
