CLOSING MURDER CASES
HOW TO IMPROVE ACCOUNTABILITY AND COMMUNITY TRUST IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO
WHY DOES SOLVING MURDERS MATTER
If people who are committing violence crimes are actually held accountable, communities will feel safe.
The presence of unsolved shootings amplifies gun violence in high risk communities by sending the message that community safety is not a priority.
Lack of accountability, diminishes order, amplifies crime, and rejects basic human rights.
Solving murders is ultimately about safety, accountability, and transparency for community.
WHILE MURDERS CONTINUES TO GO UNSOLVED, BLACK & BROWN COMMUNITIES ARE AT AN INTERSECTION OF BEING BOTH OVER-POLICED AND UNDER-PROTECTED.
What does it mean to close a case?
A case is closed when the criminal investigation is completed. In Chicago the rate of closed cases is called the clearance rate. Sometimes, no one is arrested or charged when the case is closed. Those cases, which can happen for a number of reasons, are "exceptionally" closed.
core message
Despite its enormous $1.9B budget, CPD historically has had one of the lowest clearance rates in the country. CPD’s homicide clearance rate in 2020 was 45%, lower than the national average.
Improving clearance rates will improve public safety and reduce violence in Chicago. Clearance rates, or the percentage of crimes actually solved by the police, are a critical way to evaluate department effectiveness and ensure police accountability and community trust.
Black and Brown Chicagoans disproportionately suffer the consequences of violence in the city, and yet, clearance rates in their neighborhoods are less than half of clearance rates in predominantly white communities. In 2021, the homicide clearance rate via prosecution in predominantly white communities was 45.6%, roughly the 2020 national clearance rate. In Latino communities, it was 25.2% and only 21.7% in predominantly Black communities.
CPD should be held accountable for its low clearance rates. If data suggested a government program was inefficient, officials would rightly reform the program to ensure taxpayer dollars are being well spent and the community is being served. Similarly, it is reasonable to use clearance rates to determine whether CPD is keeping the community safe, and what can be done to improve their effectiveness.
WHAT CAN CHICAGO POLICE DO TO IMPROVE ACCOUNTABILITY AND COMMUNITY TRUST?
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Shift resources from over policing communities to solving cases
Work towards building sustainable trust with communities.
These can be measured by clearance rates and officer complaints.
Here are the facts
Violence and Policing in Chicago
2021 was one of the most violent years in recent Chicago history. While the number of homicides is currently down overall from 2021, 2022 is still among the most violent in the past 10 years. So far this year, there has been a 55% increase in the number of women killed.
Black and Brown neighborhoods are being over-policed and under-protected. A 2019 study from The Trace found that police only made eight arrests for the 208 shootings that occurred in 2019 through August 31 in Chicago’s 11th Police District. Instead, “more than a third of all arrests in the area are for drug possession or purchase — the highest share of any district.”
Bureau of Justice Assistance Report
After a decade of declining clearance rates, CPD was given 89 recommendations to improve. The 2019 recommendations from the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) at the U.S. Department of Justice came after a long, thorough review of CPD’s homicide investigation practices with an eye toward improving clearance rates and accountability.
The recommendations made to improve clearance rates and accountability were wide-ranging and important. The PERF and BJA report encompassed action items related to how CPD is set up, how it manages and tracks cases, how it conducts investigations and how it hires and trains its detectives and officers.
To get serious about increasing clearance rates, improving accountability and rebuilding trust, CPD must start being transparent about its progress in adhering to the recommendations. The PERF and BJA report was released in 2019, but there have been few details shared publicly since about changes in the department to improve policing and public safety.
Our Efforts
LIVE FREE Illinois is leading the campaign to improve clearance rates for shootings and homicides in Chicago.
We are engaging key decision makers, stakeholders, and experts who have the institutional power to implement the necessary changes. This includes Chicago’s chief of detectives, deputy mayor of public safety, alderpersons championing violence prevention strategies, and additional subject matter experts.
LIVE FREE Illinois hosted a focus group with the University of Chicago Crime Lab, the former LAPD chief of detectives and the former state’s attorney policy director in which we learned:
a. LAPD is smaller than CPD, but has higher clearance rates.
b. Initiatives to improve clearance rates must include both homicides and shootings and other attempted homicides. They also must include community education about what the data means.
c. Chicago needs to improve its witness protection program.
In the long term, LIVE FREE Illinois plans to:
a. Develop a set of recommendations informed by the community that will hold the Chicago Police Department and City Council accountable for increasing clearance rates.
b. Develop a community-led direct action campaign to ensure action is taken.
c. Develop a social media campaign to educate community members and stakeholders on the importance of clearance rates in fostering police accountability.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH HOW CPD IS SOLVING CASES
CPD has a high influx of patrol officer, low number of detectives and investigators, and an inflated budget of $1.9 billion - without any real indication that crime or murders have been reduced.
The rate of solving murders is 44.5% in Chicago.
Las Vegas Police Department has a budget of $660 million with clearance rates of 91%
New York City has more civilians per capita and solved 72% of cases in 2021
Since the implementation of the consent decree, Los Angeles has seen a decrease in crime and in 2021 a clearance rate of 61%
Incomplete Murder Data in the Chicago
Since 2019, shootings have increased, while the number of incomplete murders(non -fatal shootings) being resolved have decreased. The green line represents the number of incomplete murders that have been solved by an arrest. The blue line represents incomplete murders that have been solved by approval of the States Attorneys office which is consistently lower than those by arrest. This can be due to the fact the states attorney need sufficient evidence to make a final approval.
DOES IMPROVING CLEARANCE RATES MEAN HIRING MORE POLICE?
No, Adding more police does not equate to keeping communities safe. Too often traditional policing tactics lead to increased arrests with harsh and punitive outcomes for Black and Brown people.
Improving Clearance rates is not about over - policing or increased sentencing but about commitment to investing in communities.
Encouraging prevention strategies like Fund Peace, we can help assist, build capacity, or sustain proven models of violence interruption.
