About half of U.S. murders remain unsolved – Reuters

A case is considered ‘solved’ if an arrest is made or if there is an ‘exception’, such as when the alleged killer is dead or incarcerated for another crime. Thomas Hargrove, founder of the Homicide Solving Project, suggested on NewsNation’s Rush Hour that the reason for the low rate is simple: there aren’t enough people to solve particularly serious crimes. “There aren’t enough homicide detectives, there aren’t enough medical examiners to go to crime scenes, there aren’t enough labs,” Hargrove said.

The problem is exacerbated when statistics are broken down by demographics. A CBS News analysis of FBI data released last year found that murders of white people are about 30% more likely to be solved than cases of Hispanic victims, and about 50% more likely than incidents where the victims were black. “In many major cities, there is a growing disconnect between the police and the community they serve, especially in African American communities after events like the murder of George Floyd,” Hargrove said.

Rising crime rates have soared in major metropolitan areas, including New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. Additionally, the homicide rate in the United States jumped 30% from 2019 to 2020, due to a number of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic.