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Strengthening the U.S. Medicolegal Death Investigation System: Lessons from Deaths in Custody (2025)

Chapter: Appendix D: Defining Death in Custody

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Previous Chapter: Appendix C: The Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2013 (DCRA 2013; P.L. 113-242)

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Suggested Citation: "Appendix D: Defining Death in Custody." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Strengthening the U.S. Medicolegal Death Investigation System: Lessons from Deaths in Custody. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/29232.

Appendix D

Defining Death in Custody

To provide clarity regarding what constitutes a death in custody, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) publication “Death in Custody Reporting Act: Reporting Guidance and Frequently Asked Questions,” provides scenarios to help states make determinations about when deaths should be reported under the Death in Custody Reporting Act (DCRA) (see Box D-1).

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BOX D-1
Examples of DCRA Reportable and Nonreportable Death Scenarios

A decedent dies by suicide while being detained by law enforcement officers.
1. Response is for a person with a mental disturbance or a distraught person where the result of police custody would have been to transport the individual for mental health evaluation prior to determining any criminal charges. This is reportable because the deceased was being detained.
2. Response is for a person who is a suspect in a crime, or a person wanted for questioning, whether an arrest warrant has been issued or not. This is reportable because the deceased was being detained.
Police officers pursue an individual, during which the suspect produces a weapon threatening officer safety. The suspect is then shot and killed by the officers without an officer ever having “put hands on the suspect” to physically attempt an arrest prior to the shooting. This is reportable, as the deceased was in the process of being arrested.
A death occurs during police pursuit of an individual suspected of a crime.
1. Suspect crashes and dies as a result of engaging in an active vehicle pursuit with law enforcement. This is reportable.
2. Suspect crashes and dies although officers terminated the pursuit for safety reasons and no police vehicles were obviously in pursuit. This is not reportable.
An overdose death has occurred.
1. An individual is overdosing in the parking lot of an apartment complex; a neighbor calls the police who then arrive on scene alongside emergency medical services. Before the officers interact with the individual, he dies. This is not reportable. The individual was not detained, under arrest, or in the process of being arrested.
2. An individual is acting erratically in the parking lot of an apartment complex; a neighbor calls the police, who arrive on scene and place the individual under arrest. While being handcuffed, the individual goes into cardiac arrest and is unable to be revived. The cause of death is later determined to be fentanyl toxicity. This is reportable. The individual was in the process of being arrested.
Deaths that occur to bystanders during law enforcement pursuit. These are not reportable, as the deceased individuals are not being detained, under arrest, in the process of being arrested, en route to be incarcerated, or incarcerated.

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Police contact (e.g., a brief detention such as a traffic stop, questioning an individual who matches a suspect description) results in an individual being delayed from going about their intended business. The individual then has a medical emergency and dies. This is reportable, as the deceased was detained.
An individual is transferred to a medical facility and dies there, not in a correctional facility. If the incarcerated person, absent the medical condition, would have been in prison at the time of death, it counts as a reportable death. Although the person was not physically in a correctional facility at the time of death, the death is still one of an incarcerated individual.
Deaths of individuals who are being monitored by GPS tracking devices. Since the individual is not being detained, under arrest, in the process of being arrested, en route to be incarcerated, or incarcerated, this is not reportable.
Deaths occurring in halfway houses. Deaths occurring in a halfway house are included if the halfway house is under contract with the state or local government. A death occurring in a private halfway house that is not under contract with a reporting entity is not reportable.
1. An individual is released from prison but required to serve the remainder of his sentence in a Residential Reentry Center (RCC) under contract with the state. He later dies while at the RRC. This is reportable.
2. An individual is released from prison and elects to live in a sober living house post-release. She later dies while at the sober living house. This is not reportable.
A decedent’s overdose death, which occurs before an officer arrives on-scene. This is not a reportable death, as the individual was not being detained or in the process of arrest.
Other examples of non-reportable deaths include
- deaths resulting from car accidents with no police involvement;
- deaths of police officers or corrections officers; and
- deaths occurring to individuals under supervision (e.g., in halfway houses) who die while outside the confines of their location of custody.^a