Office of Criminal Justice Grants

Death in Custody Reporting Act
General Information

In 2000, the Death in Custody Reporting Act (DCRA; Pub. L. No. 113-242) was passed by Congress requiring all states to report to the Attorney General information regarding the death of any person who is under arrest, is en route to be incarcerated, or is incarcerated at a municipal or county jail, state prison, or other local or state correctional facility (including any juvenile facility). The DCRA was reauthorized in 2014 to include the reporting requirement for “the law enforcement agency that detained, arrested, or was in the process of arresting the deceased."
 
Originally this information was captured by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) Mortality in Correctional Institutions (MCI), however, reporting of deaths in custody shifted to the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) in 2019. Under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG), BJA made all State Administering Agencies (SAA) responsible for collecting and submitting death in custody data through BJA’s Performance Measurement Tool (PMT).
 
As the SAA for Florida, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE)’s Office of Criminal Justice Grants (OCJG) began collecting death in custody data on October 1, 2019. Each quarter, state and local law enforcement agencies, as well as correctional agencies are obligated to report deaths in custody to OCJG in compliance with the DCRA.
 

FAQ

What is considered a death in custody?

Per the statute, states are to report “...information regarding the death of any person who is detained, under arrest, or is in the process of being arrested, is en route to be incarcerated, or is incarcerated at a municipal or county jail, state prison, state-run boot camp prison, boot camp prison that is contracted out by the state, any state or local contract facility, or other local or state correctional facility (including any juvenile facility).” (Reference: Section IV, #1 of BJA’s Death in Custody Reporting Act FAQ).

Based on this definition, agencies should be aware what constitutes a reportable death in custody is very broad and not confined to decedents who were arrested or incarcerated. If someone dies while interacting with a member of law enforcement or corrections while performing their enforcement duties, it is a reportable incident under this act. For example, death in custody reporting is required even if a decedent dies of natural causes (such as by a heart attack) during a traffic stop (Reference: Section IV, #6 of BJA’s Death in Custody Reporting Act FAQ). 

For more information on what constitutes a reportable death in custody, please see Section IV of BJA’s Death in Custody Reporting Act FAQ.

Who is responsible for submitting death in custody information to FDLE?

Deaths in custody, as defined by statute, should be reported to OCJG by all state and local law enforcement agencies, as well as, correctional agencies regardless of whether or not they receive JAG funding.

What information is collected?

Death in Custody information to be collected includes:
    - The decedent's first, middle, and last name, gender, race, ethnicity, and year of birth;
    - The date, time, and location of the death;
    - Type of facility in which the death occurred;
    - Date of facility admission/arrest; 
    - The law enforcement or correctional agency involved;
    - Manner of death; and
    - Brief description of circumstances of death.

How is death in custody information collected by FDLE?

State and local law enforcement agencies, as well as, correctional agencies who have a death in custody occur within their jurisdiction must complete and submit a Death in Custody Questionnaire to OCJG.

Where should Death in Custody Questionnaires be submitted?

Death in Custody Questionnaires should be submitted via email to OCJG’s criminaljustice@fdle.state.fl.us 
mailbox.

When should a death in custody be reported?

Questionnaires should be submitted to OCJG by no later than the 15th of the month following the end of each quarter (i.e., January 15th, April 15th, July 15th, & October 15th).

What if no deaths in custody occurred within my jurisdiction during the quarter?

State and local law enforcement and correctional agencies do not need to submit a completed Death in Custody Questionnaire if no reportable deaths occurred within their jurisdiction during the quarter.

What if multiple agencies where involved during an incident in which a death in custody occurred?

If multiple agencies where involved during an incident in which a death in custody occurred, the agency who held primary responsibility/jurisdiction is considered responsible for completing and submitting the Death in Custody Questionnaire. 

What if the death in custody investigation is still pending? Should it still be reported or should the report be withheld until the investigation has concluded?

If a death in custody occurred during a quarter it should still be reported regardless of whether or not an investigation is ongoing. The agency reporting should submit the questionnaire indicating the investigation of the death in custody is pending/ongoing and submit an updated questionnaire once the investigation has concluded.

What if the decedent was under house arrest or work release when they died?

Generally speaking, deaths of individuals who are on house arrest or work release are not reportable. The exception would be if the death was the result of some type of “arrest related” interaction or interaction with law enforcement or correctional personnel.

How does reporting deaths in custody under BJA's DCRA inititiave differ from reporting deaths in custody under the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)'s Mortality in Correctional Institutions (MCI) initiative and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)'s Use of Force Initiative?

While all three initiatives collect death in custody data, the MCI and Use of Force iniatives only collect death in custody data for certain scenarios. The DCRA initiative is intended to capture death in custody data for all scenarios. Each of these intiatives collects slightly different death in custody data with some information overlap. For more information on these three initiatives, their differences and similarities, please see the National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA)'s DCRA Primer.

Are Tribal law enforcement agencies and Tribally operated jails required to report to SAAs in accordance to the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2013 (DCRA)?

The DCRA requires States to report the “death of any person who is detained, under arrest, or is in the process of being arrested, is en route to be incarcerated, or is incarcerated at a municipal or county jail, State prison, State-run boot camp prison, boot camp prison that is contracted out by the State, any State or local contract facility, or other local or State correctional facility (including any juvenile facility).” As such, the law does not specifically require states to collect information on reportable deaths from Tribal entities and report them to the BJA’s DCRA Program.

 

End Notes
  1. State and local law enforcement agencies, as well as, correctional agencies should submit Death in Custody Questionnaires to the the criminaljustice@fdle.state.fl.us mailbox quarterly by no later than the 15th of the month following the end of each quarter (i.e., January 15th, April 15th, July 15th, & October 15th).
  2. State and local law enforcement and correctional agencies do not need to submit a completed Death in Custody Questionnaire if no reportable deaths occurred within their jurisdiction during the quarter.
  3. If a death in custody is under investigation (i.e., Section V. Manner of Death is marked as "Unavailable, Investigation Pending"), a Death in Custody Questionnaire should still be submitted during the applicable quarter. Upon conclusion of the investigation, an updated Death in Custody Questionnaire should be submitted.

Death in Custody
Questionnaire


If you have any questions regarding this requirement, or require additional clarification, please contact the OCJG main line at (850) 617-1250 or email criminaljustice@fdle.state.fl.us.  
 
Additional Resources


Florida Department of Law Enforcement Priorities

FDLE is composed of five areas: Executive Direction and Business Support, Criminal Investigations and Forensic Science, Criminal Justice Information, Criminal Justice Professionalism and Florida Capitol Police. FDLE’s duties, responsibilities and procedures are mandated through Chapter 943, FS, and Chapter 11, FAC. To learn more about these areas, read our Statement of Agency Organization and Operation or visit our Open Government page.