Deaths In Custody: Explore The Data

We define custody as being held in a condition where the right to liberty is deprived by police after being arrested, by corrections workers in a corrections facility due to criminal charges or prosecution, or in a care facility under a legal order due to mental health legislation. This can include police cars or police station holding cells, provincial correctional centres for a sentence less than two years, federal correctional centres for a sentence of two or more years, prisoner transportation vehicles, court holding cells, immigration detention centres, youth detention centres, and psychiatric forensic facilities.

The data set currently includes deaths that occur in custody in police cars or police station holding cells, provincial correctional centres for a sentence less than two years, federal correctional centres for a sentence of two or more years, prisoner transportation vehicles, court holding cells, immigration detention centres, youth detention centres, and psychiatric forensic facilities. This includes deaths that occur resulting from natural causes, illness and disease, homicide, due to the use of force, conditions of confinement, as well as deaths that occur due to accident, such as a drug toxicity poising, or due to suicide. The data set will also include deaths that occur in hospitals where someone was transferred from a custodial setting.

To be included in the data 3 criteria need to be met:

• Someone died
• The person was in custody in Canada
• The death occurred on or after the year 2000

To learn more about where the data comes from, check here.

This is a living data set, which means it will continue to grow and develop over time. We are working on updating the data set, it is currently only a partial list of deaths in custody. The data set does not include deaths that occur before the year 2000, or deaths that occur in involuntary treatment group homes, involuntary treatment long-term care homes, involuntary drug treatment centres, or deaths that occur in other forms of involuntary treatment. The data set does not include deaths that occur when someone is released from custody.

To track deaths in custody we use a series of different strategies, including filing access to information requests to government agencies (primarily to Justice Departments and Coroners), scraping government websites and data portals, and tracking media stories.

When a new case is identified, a member of our team adds information about the case into a spreadsheet based on the variables we collect. We only add information into the spreadsheet from either government sources, inquest documents, or accredited media sources.

A summary of the findings relevant to each variable is then subject to a verification process. To learn about how we determine information for each variable, see our data dictionary.

Verification occurs by a second member of our team, who independently confirms that the information is an accurate summary of what is included from credible sources. To confirm information, we again search for online credible sources.
Once a case is verified, it is added into the data set, and is then made available on the Tracking (In)Justice website. We try to do this in a timely way – although there may be a lag between when a case is first identified and when it is added into the online data set.

We also regularly conduct online searches to identify new pieces of information as they emerge. If a case identified is based on a recent death in custody, initially there may be very limited information available. When new details are identified, they also go through our verification process, and are then added into the online data set.

We recognize that what we identify as credible sources may not provide the entire context and may be biased. Sometimes what the media or government present as ‘facts’ are contested or are entirely incorrect. We accept this as a limitation of the project as it currently stands and offer ways to correct data here.

We are also working to consult families and communities to help identify ways to understand the limitations of the current data, and examine ways it can be better presented, analysed, or identified as incorrect and biased.

Our process results in many unknowns in the data. These unknowns are a limitation, but also a symbol of gaps in data and the need for greater transparency from corrections institutions and oversight bodies.

The variables associated with the Tracking (in)Justice data set that provide specific information about every recorded case:

• Name
• Date: Date of death
• Age: Age at time of death
• Gender: see variables dictionary for more details
• Race: see variables dictionary for more details
• Province or territory: Province or Territory that incident occurred in
• Institution at which the person was held in custody
• Type of custody
• Tactical intervention used (if relevant)
• Manner of death

Some of the variables are straightforward (such as date of death and age), while others are more complex and require further explanation and examination (such as gender and race). Please consult the data dictionary for further information about each variable.

We are working to expand variables to include accurate information and more details on each death, As this is a living data set we will launch more information as it becomes available.

Our methodology is a work in progress. Due to the limits of what is possible with relying on inconsistent media and government sources, we aim to be as transparent about our process as possible. We welcome collaboration and insight to improve our methods and data on deaths in custody across Canada. Please get in touch with us to help improve the data set or submit new entries of missing cases.