Arrest-Related Deaths, 2003-2009 - Statistical Tables   [open pdf - 1MB]

"From 2003 through 2009, a total of 4,813 deaths were reported to the Bureau of Justice Statistics' (BJS) Arrest-Related Deaths (ARD) program. Of these, about 6 in 10 deaths (2,931) were classified as homicide by law enforcement personnel, and 4 in 10 (1,882) were attributed to other manners of death. Suicide and death by intoxication each accounted for 11% of reported arrest-related deaths, accidental injury for 6%, and natural causes for 5% (figure 1). Deaths with manners classified as undetermined or those in which manners were unknown represented about 6% of reported arrest-related deaths. During the same period, the FBI estimated nearly 98 million arrests in the United States. While men comprised about 76% of reported arrests, they represented 95% of persons who died during the process of arrest (figure 2). As a group, arrest-related decedents tended to be older than the arrest population. Those under the age of 25 accounted for 45% of reported arrests but less than a quarter (22%) of arrest-related deaths."