Autopsy Analysis of Deaths in Los Angeles County Jail, 2009-2018 (ICPSR 38958)
Version Date: Feb 14, 2024 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Nicholas Shapiro, University of California, Los Angeles
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR38958.v1
Version V1
Summary View help for Summary
This study consists of abstracted information from the autopsies of people who died while incarcerated in the Los Angeles County Jail system between the years of 2009 and 2018. The data was abstracted from autopsies made available from the responsive documents for a public records request made to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner (DME-C) in 2019 requesting autopsies for all deaths that occurred in LA County Jail custody between 2009 and 2018. The data was abstracted across 84 different variables to allow for further analysis, leading to both better understanding of the circumstances of death in jail and the practices of the LA DME-C in investigating these deaths. Carefully selected language is used in the full autopsy analysis protocol with the intention of understanding the provenance of assertions of decedent health and mental health histories as well as potential conflicts of interest and failures to perform best practices of in-custody death investigations. In other words, the variables present information about the person prior to their death, the investigation right after the death, as well as the processes that occurred during the autopsy including subsequent tests conducted on the body.
Citation View help for Citation
Export Citation:
Funding View help for Funding
Subject Terms View help for Subject Terms
Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
Smallest Geographic Unit View help for Smallest Geographic Unit
Facility
Restrictions View help for Restrictions
This data collection may not be used for any purpose other than statistical reporting and analysis. Use of these data to learn the identity of any person or establishment is prohibited. To protect respondent privacy, some of the data files in this collection are restricted from general dissemination. To obtain these restricted files, researchers must download the appropriate Restricted Data Use Agreement and submit a request. Once approved, data access will be provided via ICPSR's Physical Data Enclave (PDE) in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Distributor(s) View help for Distributor(s)
Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)
Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection
Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes
-
There are two versions of the data. One version contains a public-use file, and the other is a restricted file which is only available in ICPSR's Physical Data Enclave.
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
The purpose of this study is to understand the drivers of death in the world's largest jail system and the practices of the Medical Examiner-Coroners.
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
Autopsies of people who died while incarcerated in the Los Angeles County Jail system between 2009 and 2018.
Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation
Data Source View help for Data Source
Public records request made to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner (DME-C) in 2019.
Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)
Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection
Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables
Variables in the data include autopsy information pertaining to decedents. Demographic variables in the data include age, race, and sex. The enclave-use data, which is only accessible to users with approved access to the Physical Data Enclave (PDE), include direct identifiers pertaining to the decedents and professionals involved in the autopsy process.
HideOriginal Release Date View help for Original Release Date
2024-02-14
Version History View help for Version History
2024-02-14 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Created variable labels and/or value labels.
- Performed recodes and/or calculated derived variables.
Notes
These data are freely available to data users at ICPSR member institutions. The curation and dissemination of this study are provided by the institutional members of ICPSR. How do I access ICPSR data if I am not at a member institution?
One or more files in this data collection have special restrictions. Restricted data files are not available for direct download from the website; click on the Restricted Data button to learn more.