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As Americans across the nation protest police violence, people have begun to call for cuts or changes in public spending on police. But neither these nor other proposed reforms address a key problem with solving crimes.
My recent review of 50 years of national crime data confirms that, as police report, they don’t solve most serious crimes in America. But the real statistics are worse than police data show. In the U.S. it’s rare that a crime report leads to police arresting a suspect who is then convicted of the crime.
The data show that consistently over the decades, fewer than half of serious crimes are reported to police. Few, if any arrests are made in those cases.Defend democracy. Click to invest in courageous progressive journalism today.
In reality, about 11% of all serious crimes result in an arrest, and about 2% end in a conviction. Therefore, the number of people police hold accountable […]
Very good point, Stephan! Police HR is also a problem. I remember the police officer who shot 12 year Tamar Rice was fired from his previous position in another city. His old Capt. wrote an extensive report saying this man should NEVER be hired for numerous reasons. And the Chief who hired him (Cleveland?) said he’d never read that report. Of course, he could have been lying. But when I read that story I was astonished and suspicious.