A death in custody is a death of a person in the custody of the police, other authorities or in prison. In the 21st century, death in custody remains a controversial subject, with the authorities often being accused of abuse, neglect, racism and cover-ups of the causes of these deaths.
"At least 650 people have been killed by police officers in Jamaica since 1999. Many of these have been blatantly unlawful killings, yet not one officer has been convicted since then." Piers Bannister, Amnesty International’s Jamaica researcher.
About 40 people have died in police custody over a period of 20 years following 1990. Additionally there's been 45 suicides in custody over a 10 year period from 2008.
The term "in custody" has been debated in both California v. Beheler but also in other federal court cases related to Miranda law and definition of custody. Although Miranda law has roughly defined custody as the "formal arrest or restraint on freedom of movement," colloquial language may be less restrictive in the use of custody and is thus sometimes difficult to distinguish from the process of arrest. In addition to collecting data on those who have died in custody, the Bureau of Justice Statistics also tracks all deaths related to arrest. This aids in collecting data from the fringes of custody or attempts to arrest an individual.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that 17,358 individuals in custody died during the period from 2007-2010. Other publications focus on the rate per 100,000. US jails report deaths that total a mortality rate of 128, and prisons at 264 per 100,000. There are differences in methodology used to obtain these statistics, as some jurisdictions include deaths during attempted arrests, while others do not. Other research has focused on specific states, such as Maryland and the rate of death by identity. Based on some findings, African-American males appear to be over-represented as victims of sudden custody deaths. Further research with larger sample sizes is necessary.
Watchdog organizations
collects and produces reports on police killings as well as maintaining a curated list of links to articles and publications related to death in police custody in the United States.
Selected persons who have died in custody
George Floyd died in May 2020 after a police officer held his knee on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes while handcuffed. Floyd’s death sparked major protests against police brutality across the United States.
Henry "Peg" Gilbert, shot in police custody in 1947 in Harris County, Georgia; the sheriff claimed self-defense, but Gilbert, a prosperous farmer, was found to have been severely beaten before being shot
Foreign custody by American agents (police, military, etc.)
International custody law
There are numerous laws and international treaties regarding treatment of foreigners, especially during wartime, of which the Geneva Convention is the most widely recognized and internationally ratified. It contains provisions that classify and define both prisoners of war and the manner in which they are to be treated. These include but are not limited to: murder, mutilation, hostage taking, and outrages upon personal dignity. These ratified documents are the base of US international custody law and can be seen to be misapplied in some of the proceeding cases.
