CSI: The Data

From the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised at the variance in the administrative arrangement of death investigation systems in the US. There’s a clear geographic pattern here, with clustering dependent on the rural qualities of the state.

These facts, though, are surprising:

In 2004 medical examiners and coroners’ offices conducted investigations for about 1 in 5 deaths in the U.S.

and

Nearly 13,500 unidentified human decedents [are] presently on record; total number affected by variation in record keeping practices

and

Five offices account for about 54% of all unidentified human remains on record nationally

The first number is larger than I expected, and the second and third numbers are smaller. So much for priors based on watching TV.