Since 1982, the National Deaths in Custody Monitoring and Research Program at the Australian Institute of Criminology, in cooperation with all State and Territory Police, Correctional Services and Juvenile Justice/Welfare Departments, and State Coroners or equivalents, has prepared and disseminated regular reports. The reports covered deaths across both calendar and fiscal years, providing timely and up-to-date information to policy makers, managers of custodial facilities and the public. This paper contains data on the 103 deaths in police and prison custody that occurred in 1997 -- the highest number of deaths on record. It also identifies trends in the number of deaths in custody-related police operations and the number of people dying as a result of injuries received in the course of, or immediately following, police pursuits. Tables, figures, references