Huffington Post Counts 811 Jail Cell Deaths Since Sandra Bland

By Kenrya Rankin Jul 14, 2016

It has been one year and one day since the world learned that Sandra Bland died in a Waller County, Texas, jail cell. In recognition of Bland’s death, The Huffington Post examined the available data on people who lost their lives while in jails and police lockup facilities in the 12 months since that fateful July day. The site counted 811 people.

The study culled some hard to come by numbers from state reports, county reports, municiple reports, news reports, press releases, primary records, public records requests and calls to individual jails and medical examiners. It excludes state and federal prisons. The Justice Department counts these deaths, but it doesn’t track Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Vermont or parts of Alaska and has not updated the report since 2013, when it noted that the numbers were increasing annually.

For 620 of the jail deaths, researchers were able to pinpoint how long the arrestees had been locked up when they died. Most died within a week, with 182 of them succumbing  during the first three days, and an additional 303 who died before seven days were up. The study also found that the inmates averaged 21 days in jail.

The researchers also dug up the reported causes of death:

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Read the full report—including names, facilities and other info for the people whose deaths are still under investigation—here. And you can report any deaths they missed here.