Deaths in Custody: Additional Action Needed to Help Ensure Data Collected by DOJ Are Utilized
Fast Facts
Individuals in prisons are at higher risk of dying by suicide and homicide. The Death in Custody Reporting Act requires states receiving certain federal grants to report data on these and other in-custody deaths to the Department of Justice.
We testified that 70% of records that states submitted to DOJ were missing at least one required element—e.g., a description of the individual's death. As of August 2022, DOJ has not determined whether states have complied with the law, but doing so could help improve the quality of data states submit.
We recommended that DOJ develop an implementation plan to determine states' compliance.
Percentage of State Death in Custody Records that were Complete or Missing Required Elements, FY 2021
Highlights
What GAO Found
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has taken some actions to address the data collection and reporting requirements in the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2013 (DCRA). For example, DOJ has collected and published data on deaths in federal law enforcement custody and collected similar data from states.
While states across the U.S. and DOJ have undertaken multi-year efforts to collect death in custody data, DOJ told us it has not studied these data for the purposes of addressing the study and reporting requirement in DCRA. Specifically, DOJ officials told GAO in September 2022 that they had not studied the state data, in part, because the data were incomplete. GAO compared fiscal year 2021 records that states submitted to DOJ to publicly available data and identified nearly 1,000 deaths that potentially should have been reported to DOJ but were not. Also, GAO found that 70 percent of the records provided by states were missing at least one element required by DCRA, such as a description of the circumstances surrounding the individual's death or the age of the individual (see figure).
Percentage of State Death in Custody Records That Were Complete or Missing Required Elements, Fiscal Year 2021
DOJ has taken some steps to assess the quality of the data states submitted. However, as of August 2022, DOJ had not finished assessing the quality of the data collected from states, and had not determined whether states complied with DCRA. Further, DOJ has not developed a detailed implementation plan that includes metrics and corresponding performance targets for determining state compliance, or roles and responsibilities for taking corrective action. DOJ has previously acknowledged that determining compliance could help improve the quality of state death in custody data. Developing an implementation plan would better position DOJ to meet this goal, or take corrective actions if its current approach does not fully succeed.
Finally, even if these data were of sufficient quality, DOJ is not required by DCRA to publish state death in custody data and, as of September 2022, had no plans to do so. Absent congressional direction to help ensure that any future state data collected are utilized beyond the required study, DOJ and states may continue to use resources to compile a national dataset that may not be used to help inform practices to reduce deaths in custody.
Why GAO Did This Study
According to DOJ, individuals incarcerated in prisons and jails are at higher risk of dying by suicide and homicide while in custody. DCRA was enacted in 2014 to encourage the study and reporting of deaths in custody. The act requires states receiving certain federal grants—as well as federal law enforcement agencies—to report information on deaths in custody to the DOJ. The act also requires DOJ to study these data and report its findings to Congress.
This statement discusses (1) actions DOJ has taken to address the data collection and reporting requirements in DCRA, and (2) the extent to which DOJ has studied and used data collected from states to help reduce deaths in custody.
This statement is based on GAO's December 2021 report on DOJ's efforts to collect and publish data on law enforcement's use of force ( GAO-22-104456 ) as well as additional audit work conducted from May 2022 through September 2022. To conduct the prior work, GAO reviewed laws and relevant DOJ documents, and interviewed DOJ officials. For the additional audit work, GAO reviewed DOJ documentation, interviewed DOJ officials, and assessed the reliability of data that DOJ collected from states.
Recommendations
GAO recommends Congress consider requiring DOJ to utilize any future state data for recurring study and reporting to Congress and the public. In addition, GAO is making one recommendation to DOJ to develop an implementation plan to determine state compliance with DCRA.
Matter for Congressional Consideration
Matter | Status | Comments |
---|---|---|
Congress should consider the extent to which DCRA should be amended to help ensure that any future state data provided under the act are utilized for recurring study and reporting by DOJ to Congress and the public. (Matter for Consideration 1) | GAO is monitoring actions on the recommendation to Congress. As of January 2024, a bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate--the Data on Interactions and Accountability for Law Enforcement with Individuals with Disabilities Act, S. 1730--that would require DOJ to annually collect and publish state data on deaths in custody. If passed, this bill would address our matter for congressional consideration. |
Recommendations for Executive Action
Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
---|---|---|
Office of Justice Programs | The Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs should develop a DOJ implementation plan—that includes documentation of metrics and corresponding performance targets, and identifies roles and responsibilities for taking corrective action—to determine state compliance with DCRA. (Recommendation 1) |
In September 2022, we testified on actions the Department of Justice (DOJ) had taken to address the data collection requirements in the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2013 (DCRA). As part of DCRA, states that receive federal grants from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program are generally required to submit death in custody data to DOJ. However, we found that DOJ had not taken steps to determine whether states complied with DCRA and had not developed a detailed implementation plan for determining state compliance. Consequently, we recommended that DOJ develop an implementation plan--that includes documentation of metrics and corresponding performance targets, and identifies roles and responsibilities for taking corrective action--to determine state compliance with DCRA. In December 2023, DOJ issued guidelines for determining state compliance with DCRA, which includes the elements described in our recommendation, such as metrics and performance targets. In addition, DOJ required that states submit a DCRA implementation plan as part of their annual JAG application. As a result, the agency will be better positioned to gather data from states and ultimately help inform practices to reduce deaths in custody.
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