Death in the United States, 2007
"Key findings
Data from the National Vital Statistics System, Mortality

In 2007, the age-adjusted death rate for the United States reached a record low of 760.3 per 100,000 population. Life expectancy at birth reached a record high of 77.9 years.

States in the southeast region have higher death rates than those in other regions of the country.

In 2007, the five leading causes of death were heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic lower respiratory diseases, and accidents. These accounted for over 64 percent of all deaths in the United States.

White females have the longest life expectancy (80.7 years), followed by black females (77.0 years).

The gap in life expectancy between white persons and black persons declined by 35 percent between 1989 and 2007. The race differential was 4.6 years in 2007.

Mortality in the United States, as summarized by the age-adjusted death rate-a measure that accounts for changes in the age distribution of the population-has declined in an almost uninterrupted manner since 1960. The death rate is now 43 percent lower than in 1960 (declining from 1,339.2 per 100,000 standard population in 1960 to 760.3 in 2007) (1,2). However, not all Americans have benefited equally from this decline. While there is a decline in mortality among all groups, longstanding gaps only recently began to diminish. Much of the recent improvements in death rates and life expectancy for all population groups can be attributed to ongoing reductions in death rates from major causes of death such as heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, and stroke (1)."

DEATHS IN CUSTODY: STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT RREST - RELATED DEATHS, 2003-2006
"The Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) released Deaths in Custody: Arrest-Related Deaths, 2003-2006 – Statistical Tables on the BJS website. The tables present findings from the law enforcement collection of the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP), a national resource of information collected on arrest-related deaths. The report provides counts of all arrest-related deaths reported by state authorities in more than 40 states, spanning a four-year period (2003-2006). It reports on all manners of death during an arrest, including homicides (both those by officers and other persons), suicides, alcohol or drug intoxication deaths, accidental injuries, and fatal medical problems, as well as characteristics of the deceased and circumstances of the fatal events."

The Three Leading Causes of Injury Mortality in the United States, 1999-2005
"In 2005, poisoning continued to be the second leading cause of injury death in the United States, having surpassed firearms for the first time in 2004. In 2004, poisoning deaths exceeded those related to firearms by 2%; however, the difference increased to 7% in 2005, with 32,691 poisoning deaths compared with 30,694 firearm deaths. Motor vehicle traffic (MVT) deaths were the leading cause of injury death from 1999-2005, accounting for 43,667 deaths in 2005. From 2004 to 2005, MVT deaths increased 1%, firearm deaths, 4% and poisoning deaths, 8%. (1,2)

The age distribution of poisoning deaths differs from that for MVT and firearm deaths. The 2005 poisoning death rate peaked at ages 45-54 years, whereas the MVT and firearm death rates peaked at ages 20-24 years, with a secondary peak for MVT deaths at 85 years and over, see Figure 1. Before 2005, the highest poisoning death rate had been at ages 35-44 years, but it has shifted to ages 45-54 years."