I attended a good presentation about mortality in local jails given by Margaret Noonan of the Bureau of Justice Statistics a few weeks ago. She was kind enough to send me a copy of her powerpoint presentation. Here are some of the key findings of her study:

1. About 1,000 inmates die in jails in the U.S. in any given year.
2. Of these inmates who die, the majority die by suicide (29%) or heart disease (22%).
3. Outside of these two causes, no other cause of death accounted for more than 7% of deaths.
4. Male and female inmates die at approximately equal rates (146 v 136), but the number of males dying far outnumbers that of females.
5. Men are more likely to die by suicide whereas females are twice as likely to die due to a intoxication event.
6. Whites died at a higher rate than black and Hispanics due to the suicide effect.
7. Blacks have the lowest suicide rates.
8. The majority of jail inmates (62%) serve less than 7 days.
9. Nearly one-quarter (24%) of jail deaths occur within the first two days of admission.

The typical death in jail is a white male, between the ages of 45 an 54, unconvicted at the time of his death but charged with a violent offense who committed suicide. Suicide is the leading cause of death in local jails, but continues a long-term decline:
Suicide rate in local jails in 1983: 129 per 100,000
Suicide rate in local jails in 2007: 36 in 100,000

It is worth looking at the full powerpoint presentation.