An analysis of recent crime data indicates that homicide clearance rates are down, even as homicide rates have spiked.
According to a report issued by the FBI regarding crime statistics, local law enforcement agencies have struggled to solve even half of the cases that come under their jurisdiction.
"It's a 50-50 coin flip," says Thomas Hargrove, who runs the Murder Accountability Project, which tracks unsolved murders nationwide. "It's never been this bad. During the last seven months of 2020, most murders went unsolved. That's never happened before in America."
An analysis of recent crime data indicates that homicide clearance rates are down, even as homicide rates have spiked.
According to a report issued by the FBI regarding crime statistics, local law enforcement agencies have struggled to solve even half of the cases that come under their jurisdiction.
"It's a 50-50 coin flip," says Thomas Hargrove, who runs the Murder Accountability Project, which tracks unsolved murders nationwide. "It's never been this bad. During the last seven months of 2020, most murders went unsolved. That's never happened before in America."
This disturbing trend becomes even more worrisome as homicide rates continue to climb. According to MSNBC, murder rates increased by almost 15% between September 2020 and September 2021, and cities like Los Angeles, Baltimore, and even Jackson, Mississippi, have been unable to contend with the increase in case loads.
Though a city of just 160,000 people, Jackson recorded 153 homicides in the last year and has just eight homicide detectives on staff to investigate them.
"The whole system is backlogged," said James Davis, the police chief of Jackson. "I could use more police officers. I could use more homicide detectives, but if the state is backed up, the court is backed up, we will still have the same problem by developing these cases that we're already doing."
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