AMNA NAWAZ: A new report sheds light on a staggering number of people dying behind bars in Louisiana prisons, jails and juvenile detention centers.

John Yang has more.

JOHN YANG: The Incarceration Transparency Project at the Loyola University Law School says there's been a 50 percent jump in deaths from 2019 to 2021.

And what's more, there's been a significant spike in deaths due to drugs, suicide and violence, all reaching new highs.

Roby Chavez is the communities correspondent for U.S. based in New Orleans.

Roby, as I understand it, there have been 1,100 deaths behind bars since 2015.

This report analyzes that.

What are the big findings?

ROBY CHAVEZ: Well, John, the numbers show a big surge since the start of COVID.

And prison reform advocates say that this report points to what they call dehumanizing and deadly problems at these prisons and jails.

But they say it's completely solvable problems.

Until now, there has been no comprehensive analysis of the deaths at Louisiana prisons and jails, until Loyola University Law School started to collect the data through public records requests.

Here are some of the things that they found.

One in four people killed in Louisiana jails had not been tried yet.

Black people made up nearly 58 percent of deaths.

Medical conditions like heart disease and cancer were the primary cause of death.

But overdose deaths among incarcerated people starkly increased in Louisiana from over -- just over 2 percent in 2015 to nearly 12 percent in 2021.

Now, while COVID deaths remained low, researchers believe that the restrictions put in place during the first two years of the pandemic certainly played a role in these increases.

ANDREA ARMSTRONG, Loyola University College of Law: COVID changed the prison and jail environment.

It meant that there was no programming.

It meant that there were fewer staff on site.

It meant that the people who were incarcerated had lesser access to the outdoors.

Those changes in the environment affected people's mental health.

And so what we saw in that time is higher levels of violent deaths, drug overdoses, as well as suicides during the COVID period.

ROBY CHAVEZ: Now, other studies have shown that Louisiana has the highest in-custody mortality rate in the country, John.

JOHN YANG: Roby, has there been any response from both the family members of people who died behind bars or the Department of Corrections?

ROBY CHAVEZ: Well, look, family members, for their part, just want to know how the drugs continue to get in the prisons and jails, especially during the pandemic, when they were on lockdown and family visitations were halted.

We did speak with prison officials, who acknowledged the spike in deaths, even calling the rise in suicides a black eye for the department.

But we also spoke with the Louisiana Department of Corrections' medical director, who said, what he's seeing parallels what they're seeing in the general population the outside.

And the goal is to provide a standard of care that is equal to what's available in the community.

Now, that spokesman went on to say that there's a department-wide concern over these deaths, saying -- quote -- "You would like people to do their time and to go back home to their families.

John, clearly, for some people, that's not happening.

JOHN YANG: And is the Department of Corrections taking any steps, any actions?

ROBY CHAVEZ: Well, look, researchers and advocates say just bringing awareness through this report will help move things forward.

Family members believe that those deaths of folks who died from non-medical illnesses deserve an independent criminal investigation.

Now, for its part, the Department of Corrections has started to evaluate people incarcerated with high needs to determine their best placement.

Spending has increased by $6 million since 2017.

And the Department of Corrections has increased on-site clinics to treat people for everything from mental health issues to substance abuse and dialysis.

And we should mention the lead author of this report says that in-custody deaths should be rare events.

ANDREA ARMSTRONG: We don't draw any conclusions about whether a death is preventable or not.

But what this project does do is, it identifies patterns and trends in deaths, both in jails and in prisons, and that this information is helpful for administrators of that facility to identify what types of things they can look to improve, such as supervision protocols or searching protocols, and the ways in which they might be able to reduce preventable deaths inside.

ROBY CHAVEZ: Now, Louisiana is unique from most other states, because more than half of the people convicted of crimes have to serve out their times in local jails.

Those are run by sheriffs, and that's where we're seeing the spike in deaths.

Local prison advocates say that points to a need for independent oversight and mandatory standards across all these facilities, John.

JOHN YANG: Roby Chavez, thank you very much.

ROBY CHAVEZ: Thank you, John.

JOHN YANG: And you can dive deeper into Roby's reporting, including his interviews with family members of those who have died behind bars, by going to our Web site, PBS.org/NewsHour.