42 Crime Clearance Statistics

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These crime clearance figures cover the measurement periods and populations identified in the available source material. Estimates, surveys and forecasts retain their reported scope.

Key Crime Clearance Statistics

The main findings are:

  • NIBRS classified 56.1% of murder/non-negligent-manslaughter incidents as cleared and 43.9% as not cleared in 2011 (15 complete NIBRS-reporting states).
  • A four-city NIJ study found 589 of 798 homicides solved, equivalent to 74% of the study sample (1994-1995; four U.S. cities).
  • Nearly 6.9 million serious property crimes were reported in 2019 in the national data summarized by the study.
  • Female-victim homicide cases had an 8.4% higher clearance rate than male-victim cases (1976-2017).
  • The agency study interviewed 155 people across eight police departments (case-study visits; eight U.S. departments).
  • Among cleared murder/non-negligent-manslaughter incidents, 91.4% resulted from arrest (2011; 15 complete NIBRS-reporting states).
  • In the NIJ four-city study, 50% of solved homicide cases were solved within one week (1994-1995; four U.S. cities).
  • About 82.8% of serious property crimes remained unsolved in 2019.
  • For each one-unit increase in the study’s organizational best-practices scale, the likelihood of solving a homicide increased by 95% (study analysis; eight-agency homicide analysis).
  • Among cleared murder/non-negligent-manslaughter incidents, 1.1% were exceptionally cleared because prosecution was declined (2011; 15 complete NIBRS-reporting states).
  • In the NIJ four-city study, 93.2% of solved homicide cases were solved within one year (1994-1995; four U.S. cities).
  • Aggravated-assault clearance was reported as roughly 50%-60% even though the perpetrator is often known to the victim (long-term context).
  • Among cleared murder/non-negligent-manslaughter incidents, 0% were exceptionally cleared because the victim refused to cooperate (2011; 15 complete NIBRS-reporting states).
  • The peer-reviewed U.S. homicide study covered 769,753 homicide cases reported to the FBI from 1976 through 2017 (1976-2017; United States FBI-reported data).
  • The peer-reviewed agency study analyzed long-term clearance trajectories for homicide, robbery, burglary and aggravated assault across the 100 largest U.S. police departments (1981-2013).

Contents

Crime clearance statistics by offense and clearance outcome

NIBRS table covers 15 complete reporting states, not the entire U.S.

Exceptional-clearance categories are conditional on the incident being cleared.

Conditional share; not a percentage of all murder incidents.

Reported table value is zero for this sample and year.

Other exceptional reasons are grouped together in the source.

NIBRS table covers 15 complete reporting states.

Conditional share of cleared incidents.

Other exceptional reasons are grouped together.

Study sample was constructed to match each city’s open/closed caseload proportions; it is not a national estimate.

Conditional on cases classified as solved.

Study uses FBI supplementary homicide-report data and its inclusion rules.

Victim records are nested in the reported homicide-case dataset.

Offender records are those represented in the study data, not necessarily unique persons nationwide.

The abstract reports the difference as 8.4% higher; it does not provide the underlying group rates in the record.

The article describes the figure as approximate and uses FBI UCR data.

The article summarizes the most comprehensive available data for that year; coverage and reporting practices matter.

The 1960s value is described as a range, while 2019 is an approximate national comparison.

The article explicitly labels this as a recent estimate, not a settled official national figure.

Range summarizes UCR trends rather than one single-year rate.

The source presents this as a long-run range, not a single-year estimate.

Robbery, burglary and aggravated-assault clearance data

The article uses the approximation ‘nearly’ and summarizes UCR data.

Unsolved means not cleared by arrest or exceptional means in the source’s FBI-UCR framing.

This is a broad range summarized in the article, not a single national-year estimate.

This describes the study frame; it is not itself a clearance percentage.

Agency characteristics are descriptive and not nationally representative.

Approximate range for the selected case-study cities.

The source says ‘might’; this is a reported agency-level range, not a pooled estimate.

Who is represented in homicide clearance research

Female-victim homicide cases had an 8.4% higher clearance rate than male-victim cases (1976-2017). (Homicide Clearance Rates in the…)

The PubMed abstract does not specify whether the 8.4% is a relative or percentage-point difference.

Police-agency practices linked with crime clearance

  • The agency study interviewed 155 people across eight police departments (case-study visits; eight U.S. departments). (Differences Between High and Low…)
  • For each one-unit increase in the study’s organizational best-practices scale, the likelihood of solving a homicide increased by 95% (study analysis; eight-agency homicide analysis). (Differences Between High and Low…)

Interview sample is purposive and not representative of all police personnel.

Association from an agency/case analysis; it should not be interpreted as a randomized causal effect.

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