Title page
Contents
Acknowledgements 8
Acronyms and abbreviations 9
Abstract 10
Introduction 11
Deaths in prison custody 13
2020-21 findings 13
Indigenous status 13
Sex 14
Age 15
Legal status 15
Cause of death 15
Manner of death 16
Most serious offence 17
Location of death 17
Type of prison 17
Deaths in police custody and custody-related operations 22
2020-21 findings 22
Indigenous status 22
Sex 23
Age 23
Cause of death 23
Manner of death 24
Most serious offence 24
Location of death 25
Circumstances of custodial period 25
Shooting deaths 26
Motor vehicle pursuit deaths 26
References 29
Appendix A: Methodology 30
Background and purpose of the NDICP 30
Scope 30
Data collection and coding 31
Indigenous status 32
Cause versus manner of death 32
Most serious offence 33
Location of death 33
Type of custody 33
Borderline cases 34
Data revisions 34
Calculation of death rates and population rates 35
Limitations 35
Time frames 35
Contextual information 36
Appendix B: Data tables-Deaths in custody 2020-21 key findings 37
Appendix C: Data tables-Deaths in custody by custodial authority, 1979-80 to 2020-21 44
Appendix D: Data tables-Deaths in prison custody, 1979-80 to 2020-21 49
Appendix E: Data tables-Deaths in police custody and custody-related operations, 1989-90 to 2020-21 84
Figure 1. Deaths in prison custody, 1981-82 to 2020-21 18
Figure 2. Deaths in prison custody by jurisdiction and Indigenous status, 2020-21 18
Figure 3. Deaths in prison custody by Indigenous status, 1981-82 to 2020-21 19
Figure 4. Deaths in prison custody by legal status, 1981-82 to 2020-21 19
Figure 5. Deaths in prison custody by cause of death, 1981-82 to 2020-21 20
Figure 6. Hanging deaths in prison custody by Indigenous status, 1981-82 to 2020-21 20
Figure 7. Deaths in prison custody by manner of death, 1981-82 to 2020-21 21
Figure 8. Deaths in police custody and custody-related operations, 1989-90 to 2020-21 26
Figure 9. Deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by Indigenous status, 1989-90 to 2020-21 27
Figure 10. Deaths in police custody by select cause of death, 1989-90 to 2020-21 27
Figure 11. Motor vehicle pursuit deaths, 1989-90 to 2020-21 28
Figure 12. Shooting deaths, 1989-90 to 2020-21 28
Boxes
Box 1. Definitions of deaths in custody 12
Table B1. Deaths in prison custody, 2020-21 37
Table B2. Deaths in prison custody, 2020-21 39
Table B3. Deaths in prison custody by Indigenous status, cause of death and manner of death, 2020-21 39
Table B4. Deaths in police custody and custody-related operations, 2020-21 40
Table B5. Deaths in police custody and custody-related operations, 2020-21 42
Table B6. Deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by Indigenous status, cause of death and manner of death, 2020-21 43
Table C1. Deaths in custody by custodial authority, 1979-80 to 2020-21 44
Table C2. Indigenous deaths in custody by custodial authority, 1979-80 to 2020-21 45
Table C3. Non-Indigenous deaths in custody by custodial authority, 1979-80 to 2020-21 47
Table D1. Deaths in prison custody by jurisdiction, 1979-80 to 2020-21 49
Table D2. Indigenous deaths in prison custody by jurisdiction, 1979-80 to 2020-21 50
Table D3. Non-Indigenous deaths in prison custody by jurisdiction, 1979-80 to 2020-21 52
Table D4. Deaths in prison custody by Indigenous status and sex, 1979-80 to 2020-21 53
Table D5. Deaths in prison custody by Indigenous status, 1981-82 to 2020-21 54
Table D6. Deaths in prison custody by sex, 1981-82 to 2020-21 56
Table D7. Deaths in prison custody by age category, 1979-80 to 2020-21 57
Table D8. Indigenous deaths in prison custody by age category, 1979-80 to 2020-21 58
Table D9. Non-Indigenous deaths in prison custody by age category, 1979-80 to 2020-21 60
Table D10. Deaths in prison custody by age category, 1981-82 to 2020-21 61
Table D11. Deaths in prison custody by Indigenous status and legal status, 1979-80 to 2020-21 62
Table D12. Deaths in prison custody by legal status, 1981-82 to 2020-21 64
Table D13. Deaths in prison custody by cause of death, 1979-80 to 2020-21 65
Table D14. Indigenous deaths in prison custody by cause of death, 1979-80 to 2020-21 66
Table D15. Non-Indigenous deaths in prison custody by cause of death, 1979-80 to 2020-21 68
Table D16. Deaths in prison custody by cause of death, 1981-82 to 2020-21 69
Table D17. Hanging deaths in prison custody by Indigenous status, 1981-82 to 2020-21 70
Table D18. Deaths in prison custody by manner of death, 1979-80 to 2020-21 72
Table D19. Indigenous deaths in prison custody by manner of death, 1979-80 to 2020-21 73
Table D20. Non-Indigenous deaths in prison custody by manner of death, 1979-80 to 2020-21 74
Table D21. Deaths in prison custody by manner of death, 1981-82 to 2020-21 76
Table D22. Deaths in prison custody by most serious offence, 1979-80 to 2020-21 77
Table D23. Indigenous deaths in prison custody by most serious offence, 1979-80 to 2020-21 78
Table D24. Non-Indigenous deaths in prison custody by most serious offence, 1979-80 to 2020-21 80
Table D25. Deaths in prison custody by location of death, 1979-80 to 2020-21 81
Table D26. Deaths in prison custody by prison type, 1979-80 to 2020-21 82
Table E1. Deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by jurisdiction, 1989-90 to 2020-21 84
Table E2. Indigenous deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by jurisdiction, 1989-90 to 2020-21 86
Table E3. Non-Indigenous deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by jurisdiction, 1989-90 to 2020-21 87
Table E4. Deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by category of death, 1989-90 to 2020-21 88
Table E5. Deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by Indigenous status, 1989-90 to 2020-21 89
Table E6. Deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by Indigenous status and sex, 1989-90 to 2020-21 90
Table E7. Deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by age category, 1989-90 to 2020-21 91
Table E8. Indigenous deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by age category, 1989-90 to 2020-21 92
Table E9. Non-Indigenous deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by age category, 1989-90 to 2020-21 93
Table E10. Deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by cause of death, 1989-90 to 2020-21 94
Table E11. Indigenous deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by cause of death, 1989-90 to 2020-21 95
Table E12. Non-Indigenous deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by cause of death, 1989-90 to 2020-21 96
Table E13. Deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by manner of death, 1989-90 to 2020-21 97
Table E14. Indigenous deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by manner of death, 1989-90 to 2020-21 98
Table E15. Non-Indigenous deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by manner of death, 1989-90 to 2020-21 99
Table E16. Deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by most serious offence, 1989-90 to 2020-21 100
Table E17. Indigenous deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by most serious offence, 1989-90 to 2020-21 101
Table E18. Non-Indigenous deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by most serious offence, 1989-90 to 2020-21 102
Table E19. Deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by location of death, 1989-90 to 2020-21 103
Table E20. Deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by type of custody, 1989-90 to 2020-21 104
Table E21. Deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by method of detainmenta, 1989-90 to 2020-21 105
Table E22. Indigenous deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by method of detainmenta, 1989-90 to 2020-21 106
Table E23. Non-Indigenous deaths in police custody and custody-related operations by method of detainmenta, 1989-90 to 2020-21 107
Table E24. Motor vehicle pursuit deaths by Indigenous status and sex, 1989-90 to 2020-21 108
Table E25. Shooting deaths, 1989-90 to 2020-21 109
Table E26. Indigenous shooting deaths, 1989-90 to 2020-21 110
Table E27. Non-Indigenous shooting deaths, 1989-90 to 2020-21 111