The First 48 Hours After a Death in Police Custody

Why the First 48 Hours Define Everything

The 48 hours after a death in police custody are a critical time to ask agencies to preserve evidence. Retention policies vary — body camera footage, booking video, cell-check logs, and dispatch audio may be overwritten on different schedules. Once a file is overwritten, recovery is not guaranteed.

This is also the window when the involved agency's narrative takes shape. The department's public information officer drafts a press statement. Internal affairs begins collecting officer accounts. Risk management starts assessing liability exposure. All of this happens while the family is still processing the notification call.

The family's actions in these first 48 hours won't win the case. But failing to act can lose it.

Hour 0–6: Notification and Immediate Response

The notification itself is often the first source of confusion. Families receive a phone call — from a jail administrator, a police chaplain, a hospital social worker, or sometimes a detective — with incomplete and sometimes contradictory information about what happened. The caller may not know (or may not share) whether the death occurred during arrest, transport, booking, or while in a cell.

What to do immediately:

Write down everything the caller tells you — the caller's name, title, agency, phone number, the time of the call, and exactly what they said about the circumstances. If you want to record the call, ask permission first. These details will matter later when your attorney compares the initial notification against body camera timestamps and dispatch logs.

Do not go to the police station or jail alone if officers ask you to come identify the body or collect belongings. Bring someone with you — ideally someone who can take notes while you handle the emotional weight of the identification.

Do not sign anything at the station or jail. Agencies have been known to present families with forms that include language waiving rights to certain records or releases of liability, dressed up as routine administrative paperwork. Sign nothing without an attorney reviewing it first.

Hour 6–24: Evidence Preservation and Legal Contact

Serve a spoliation notice. This is the single most important legal step in the first day. A spoliation notice (also called a litigation hold letter) is a written request sent to every involved agency — the police department, the jail, the medical examiner, and the hospital if applicable — asking them to preserve evidence related to the death. This includes body camera footage, booking video, cell-check logs, CAD (computer-aided dispatch) sheets, 911 audio, use-of-force reports, and intake medical screening records.

Some agencies have short retention periods for routine footage. When litigation is reasonably foreseeable, notice can trigger a duty to preserve relevant evidence, but a letter does not guarantee that files are secured. If relevant evidence is later destroyed, a court may allow an adverse inference when the legal standard is met.

If you don't have an attorney yet, you can send a preliminary preservation demand yourself. Send it via certified mail and email to the agency's legal counsel or records division. Keep copies of everything.

Contact a civil rights attorney. Look for attorneys who specifically handle police misconduct, excessive force, or Section 1983 cases — not a general personal injury firm. Organizations like the National Police Accountability Project maintain referral lists. Most civil rights attorneys in custody death cases work on contingency, meaning they don't charge upfront fees.

Request the body remain unembalmed. Call the coroner or medical examiner's office and the funeral home (if one has been contacted) to ensure the body is held in refrigeration without embalming. Embalming destroys toxicological evidence and masks restraint injuries. If you're considering an independent autopsy — and in custody deaths, you should be — embalming makes the second examination far less useful.

Hour 24–48: Records Requests and Documentation

File public records requests. Submit formal requests (FOIA at the federal level, state-specific open records laws otherwise) for:

• All body-worn camera footage from every officer who responded to or was present during the incident
• Dashcam footage from patrol vehicles
• CAD dispatch logs and 911 audio recordings
• Booking records and intake medical screening forms
• Cell-check logs and facility surveillance video
• Use-of-force reports filed by involved officers
• Any internal communications about the incident

Some states have specific disclosure timelines for critical-incident footage. California's AB 748 generally requires disclosure within 45 days. During an active criminal investigation, an agency may delay release for up to one year if it shows by clear and convincing evidence that disclosure would substantially interfere with the investigation and gives the requester written updates every 30 days. Colorado requires release of critical-incident body-camera footage within 21 days after a complaint; an extension of up to 45 days is allowed if release would compromise an active investigation. Other states have no specific timelines, and agencies may delay for months.

Photograph and preserve the deceased's belongings. If the agency returns clothing, personal items, or a phone, photograph everything before handling it. Keep unwashed clothing separate and ask your attorney or a qualified evidence specialist how to package it. Do not use, reset, or alter the phone; ask an attorney or digital forensics specialist how to preserve it.

Document your own timeline. Write down everything you know about the deceased's last 72 hours: who they spoke to, where they were, their mental state, any medical conditions. This timeline will help your attorney identify witnesses and establish the baseline condition of the person before custody.

What Not to Do in the First 48 Hours

Don't post on social media about the case. Posts about the case may be requested during litigation and could be used as evidence. A raw, emotional post at 3 a.m. may come up in a deposition. If you need to notify people, do it by phone or in person.

Don't speak to internal affairs investigators without an attorney present. Internal affairs may contact you and frame their questions as routine. They represent the agency, not you. Politely decline and provide your attorney's contact information.

Don't accept any settlement offer or sign any agreement. It's too early. You don't have the evidence you need to evaluate what the case is worth. Early offers are almost always designed to close the matter cheaply before the full picture emerges.

The complete after-death-in-custody roadmap — covering everything from these first 48 hours through the first year of legal and administrative deadlines — is in the After a Death in Police Custody guide. It includes the preservation letter templates and agency contact scripts that turn these steps into actual paperwork.