The U.S. has one of the lowest clearance rates — the percentage of open homicide cases that end in prosecution — in the industrialized world.
The rates are often worse in communities of color and neighborhoods with rampant gun violence. In St. Louis, for example, Black people represent the vast majority of people killed in the city each year. Yet between 2014 and 2023, police solved fewer than half of the killings involving Black victims compared to nearly two-thirds of cases involving White ones, an investigation by STLPR, APM Reports and The Marshall Project found.
Community trust in the police can make a difference in which cases police close. Community members being willing to come forward as witnesses or deliver anonymous tips can help police move their investigations forward. And for many families, knowing how an investigation is progressing often provides a sense of comfort during an otherwise devastating time…