Prison Murders??

Question

How many murders are commited while in prison? Do inmates really kill lots of people? please provide links if possible. THANKS

Answer 1

The suicide rate in local jails fell from 129 per 100,000 inmates in 1983 to 47 per 100,000 in 2002, the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. The findings are from the first BJS report on inmate deaths mandated by the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2002 (Public Law 106-297).

Suicides had been the leading cause of jail inmate deaths in 1983, but the death rate from illnesses and natural causes (69 per 100,000 inmates) was higher in 2002. State prison suicide rates, which have historically been much lower than the rate in jails, also dropped sharply, from 34 per 100,000 state prisoners to 14 per 100,000 in 2002.

The homicide rate in state prisons fell from 54 per 100,000 prisoners in 1980 to 4 per 100,000 in 2002. Local jail inmate homicide rates fell slightly, from 5 per 100,000 in 1983 to 3 per 100,000 in 2002.

During 2002, the latest year for which such data are available, there were 978 jail inmate deaths and 2,946 state prisoner deaths from all causes. During the same year, suicides accounted for 314 jail inmate deaths and 168 state prisoner deaths. Fewer than 50 deaths in either local jails (20) or state prisons (48) were homicides

See http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/press/shspljpr.htm

Answer 2

i have worked int he prison system for over 5 years. the majority of murders are are of people who were rapists and child molesters. others are those who are gay in the prison population. beyond that- i didnt see much else.