>> REPORTER: AN INVESTIGATIVE SERIES BY SAN DIEGO CITY BEAT LOOKS INTO A NUMBER OF DEATHS
AMONG INMATES IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY JAILS.
THE FIRST REPORT THIS WEEK COMPARED MORTALITY RATES IN SAN DIEGO TO CALIFORNIA'S TEN LARGEST
JAIL SYSTEMS AND TO NATIONAL INMATE DEATH RATES OVER A SIX‑YEAR PERIOD.
HERE WITH DETAILS ON THE DATA UNCOVERED IN SAN DIEGO CITY BEAT IS THE EDITOR DAVID ROLLAND.
THANKS FOR JOINING US, LET'S TALK ABOUT THE REPORT.
THEY LOOKED INTO THE DEATHS OF INMATES IN THE JAILS BETWEEN 2007 AND 2012.
WHAT DID THEY FIND AS FAR AS HOW MANY DEATHS AND WHAT THESE DEATHS WERE CAUSED BY?
>> WELL, THEY FOUND 60 DEATHS IN THOSE SIX YEARS.
AND THEY WERE 31 OF THEM WERE FOR QUOTE UNQUOTE NATURAL REASONS.
THERE WERE 16 SUICIDES, THERE WERE 8 ACCIDENTAL DEATH, THERE WERE 5 DEATHS DUE TO HOMICIDE.
THE PEOPLE WHO DIED RANGED FROM 18 YEARS OLD AT THE YOUNG END TO ALL THE WAY UP TO 72 YEARS
OLD, 56 OF THEM WERE MEN, FOUR OF THEM WERE WOMEN.
SO ALL OVER THE MAP.
>> REPORTER: THE AVERAGE AGE OF 46.
NOT A HIGH‑RISK POPULATION YOU WOULD NORMALLY THINK OF BUT WE WILL COME BACK TO THAT.
NOW, THE REPORTERS CALCULATED THESE STATISTICS WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FORMULA THAT
IS USED BY MOST JAIL SYSTEMS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.
WHAT IS THAT FORMULA?
>> IT'S CALLED THE MORTALITY RATE.
AND IT'S USED BY THE U.S. BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS.
AND THEY ARE A DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.
AND THEY USE THAT RATE BECAUSE IT'S EASIER TO MAKE COMPARISONS TO OTHER AGENCIES LIKE
THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND OTHER HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS USE THAT BECAUSE THEY
FEEL LIKE IT'S THE BEST WAY TO CALCULATE IT.
IT IS MORTALITY RATE IS BASICALLY THE NUMBER OF DEATHS DIVIDED BY THE AVERAGE DAILY POPULATION.
SO BECAUSE THIS ‑‑ THE NUMBER OF THE POPULATION FLUCTUATES DRAMATICALLY FROM DAY‑TO‑DAY,
THEY USE AN AVERAGE SO THEY CAN ZERO IN AND COMPARE IT WITH OTHERS.
>> REPORTER: AND TYPICALLY THAT IS LIKE THE NAH, THEY USE IT FOR DISEASE TRACKING, MORTALITY.
AND SO MANY DEATHS OR SO MANY DISEASES PER 100,000 PEOPLE, SO YOU GET A GOOD POPULATION
AND LIKE YOU SAID IN JAILS THEY TURN OVER ALL THE TIME.
TRADITIONALLY USED.
THE MORTALITY RATES WE ARE TALKING ABOUT WERE COMPARED TO NATIONAL STATISTICS AND TEN OF
THE LARGEST JAIL SYSTEMS IN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING LOS ANGELES, RIVER SIDE, KERN COUNTIES, HOW
DID WE COMPARE?
>> THE HIGHEST, WHEN WE LOOKED AT THE TEN LARGES IN CALIFORNIA, I BELIEVE IT WAS BETWEEN
2007 AND 2012 WE CAME ‑‑ SAN DIEGO COUNTY CAME UP WITH A MORTALITY RATE OF 202 DEATHS
PER 100,000 PEOPLE.
AND THAT WAS A LITTLE HIGHER THAN RIVER SIDE COUNTY, RIVER SIDE COUNTY WAS 198 IN THE SAME
PERIOD.
DOWN FROM THERE.
SO WE WERE A LITTLE HIGH.
>> REPORTER: BUT IN THE 2007‑2010 WE WERE LOOKING AT A GRAPHIC, MAYBE WE CAN PUT THAT
BACKUP, SPECIFICALLY THE RATE COMPARED TO U.S. AND CALIFORNIA, TELL US ABOUT THAT.
>> YEAH, THAT WAS THE ONE WHERE WE WERE ABLE TO COMPARE IT TO CALIFORNIA AS A WHOLE AND
THE NATION.
JUST BECAUSE OF THE INFORMATION THAT WAS AVAILABLE TO US, WE HAD TO TAKE A SHORTER PERIOD OF
TIME, SO WE LOOKED AT 2007‑2010 AND FOUND OUT THAT SAN DIEGO COUNTY HAD MORTALITY RATE
OF 206 COMPARED TO CALIFORNIA WHICH WAS JUST 153 AND THE NATION ALL THE WAY DOWN TO 129
DEATHS PER 100,000 PEOPLE.
>> REPORTER: AND YOU CAN REALLY SEE IT THERE.
IT LOOKS SO DRASTICALLY MORE.
THE SAN DIEGO SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT CHALLENGED THE DATA, THEY WERE IN THE ARTICLE, AND THEY
CALLED THE DATA MATHEMATICALLY EXAGGERATED AND THEY SAID THEY USE A DIFFERENT METHOD
TO CALCULATE DEATHS.
WHAT IS THEIR METHOD?
>> THEY CALCULATE IT BY LOOKING AT THE TOTAL NUMBER OF BOOK INGS, SO THE TOTAL NUMBER OF
PEOPLE THAT ARE BOOKED INTO JAIL AND THAT IS GOING TO BE A MUCH HIGHER RATE THAN THE
AVERAGE DAILY POPULATION BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE COMING IN AND OUT ALL THE TIME.
PEOPLE ARE NOT THERE VERY LONG.
SO THAT NUMBER MAKES THE COUNTIES NUMBER LOOK BETTER.
SO WE HAD SOMEBODY QUOTED IN THE STORY SAYING THAT IS THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT COMPLAIN ABOUT
THE MORTALITY RATE AS WE PREVIOUSLY DISCUSSED IT ARE PEOPLE WHOSE MORTALITY RATE IS HIGHER.
>> REPORTER: THE METHOD THAT THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT USES IS RARELY USED AND NOT REALLY
USED VERY OFTEN WHATSOEVER.
>> YEAH, WE ASKED THEM IF THEY COULD GIVE US SOME SORT OF SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION OR
SOME SCIENTIFIC BASIS THAT WOULD SHOW THAT IT'S THE BETTER WAY TO LOOK AT IT.
AND THEY COULDN'T.
>> REPORTER: OKAY, NOW A CITIZEN LAW ENFORCEMENT BOARD INSPECTS JAILS ANNUALLY AND REVIEW ALL
OFFICER‑INVOLVED DEATHS OR DEATHS WHILE IN CUSTODY OF AN OFFICER.
DID THEY SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THESE UNUSUAL NUMBERS HERE IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY?
>> THEY ‑‑ WE HAVE DONE A LOT OF REPORTING ON KLERB AS WE CALL IT, THAT IS THE ACRONYM,
AND A LOT OF CRITICAL REPORTING OF THE ORGANIZATION.
WE BELIEVE THAT THEY COULD BE ‑‑ THEY COULD BE A LOT MORE AGGRESSIVE IN THEIR INVESTIGATIONS
OF, YOU KNOW, OF WHAT POLICE ARE DOING IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY.
HOWEVER, IN THIS CASE THEY HAVE OVER THE YEARS A COUPLE ON A COUPLE OF OCCASIONS LOOKED INTO
SOME OF THESE, LOOKED INTO MORTALITY RATE AND MADE SUGGESTIONS SORT OF ALONG THE FRINGE
AND THE OUTSIDE OF THE PROBLEM, MADE SUGGESTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN REJECTED BY THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT
FOR WHATEVER REASON.
>> REPORTER: WELL, AS WE MENTIONED THIS IS PART OF AN ONGOING SERIES AND WE LOOK FORWARD
TO THE NEXT INSTALLMENT.
I WANT TO LET PEOPLE KNOW THEY CAN READ THE STORY ON OUR WEBSITE, KPBS.ORG/MIDDAY EDITION,
DAVID ROLLAND OF THE CITY BEAT, THANKS SO MUCH.
>> YOU ARE WELCOME.