High crime clearance rates are associated with lower crime rates. Translation: more crimes solved, fewer crimes. While the causal pathways are complicated, deterrence appears to play a starring role. Basically, humans are less likely to transgress against the rules if they think they’ll be caught and punished. Severity of punishment matters less to deterrence but may help in keeping some people off the street. Being caught matters more, as long as being caught is associated with some unpleasantness.
So among the many other things we need to do to reduce crime, how can the police improve their clearance rates? This from David Carter, the go-to person on these matters:
Police departments need to:
- Provide adequate overtime budget, especially make full use of the first 48 hours
- Train and provide the necessary tools for first-responding patrol officers to essentially begin the investigation
- Prioritize relationships with family members, witnesses and larger community
- Maintain organization flexibility: within-agency cooperation with homicide investigators
- Establish effective public information capability, including social media
For more, click on the link below.
Strategies to Improve Homicide Investigations and Increase Clearance Rates by David L. Carter and Brian Russell, Violence Reduction Network, 2015