Unsolved
Unresolved gun homicides in America. With all the technology available to us, why are we not solving these crimes?
When I want to know what time it is, I check the clock. But when I want to know how many gun homicides remain unsolved in the United States, the answer is not so easily accessible. Gun violence has been a persistent issue in the US, with many cases remaining unsolved, leaving families and communities with unanswered questions and no justice. In this article, we will explore the prevalence of unsolved gun homicides in the US and delve into the challenges that law enforcement face when trying to solve these cases. We will also examine the impact of unsolved gun homicides on communities and the ways in which individuals and organizations are working to address this issue.
My dad was murdered in a mob hit. He was on his way to pick me up from work. My dad was a ship captain, I was driving a boat at the time and he was on his way to our docks. Almost there, he stopped to wait for a train to cross the tracks when someone walked up to his truck and shot him. I made it to the hospital in time for him to die next to me on the table, covered in blood and in a total state of shock.
In the years since my dad’s homicide, I’ve met hundreds of survivors of gun violence. We’ve lost children, parents, siblings, friends, witnessed shootings or survived being shot. The common denominator in all our instances is the guns. The second common denominator is the unsolved homicide rate. The vast majority of us never had our cases solved.
A few years ago, a small group of us survivors started a pilot working group to address the issue of unsolved murders. The more we dug into the data, the more we realized most gun homicides go unsolved. Nationally, we clear around 48% of homicides every year. In certain cities the murder clearance rate is much lower. Chicago, for example, has a historically lower homicide clearance rate than the national average, with less than 40% of homicides cleared in 2020. Chicago Police closed exactly 400 murder cases in 2021, above the average solved during the last several years. That’s nearly 50 more cases closed than in 2020 and well above the average of 250 homicides solved in each of the previous five years. However, this doesn’t mean many more people are being brought to justice. Half of the closed cases – 199 to be exact – were closed “exceptionally”, meaning no one was charged. Under departmental policy, detectives are allowed to clear a case when the suspect is dead, prosecutors refuse to make a charge, or police know who committed the murder but won’t make an arrest.
When the FBI calculates murder clearance rate, they divide the total number of murders by murders solved either by arrest or by exception. “Exception” means they’ve identified the murderer but for whatever reason they can’t arrest that person. Examples of exceptions are the suspected killer died, a murder-suicide situation, or the killer is already in prison in another state. Just because a murder is “cleared” does NOT necessarily mean it has been solved. Therefore, the number of people held accountable for a homicide is far less than what the numbers truly reflect.
In the 1960’s, we solved around 90% of gun homicides. That’s a steep decline to where we are today, at around 48%. Why are we not solving these gun homicides? Here are a few reasons:
1. Higher Standards. In the digital age we live in today with DNA evidence, juries expect more physical evidence in a case to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the killer is guilty. While this fact has no bearing on the DA choosing to accept the charges, it has raised the bar for crime scene detectives. Cops are less likely to make an arrest if they don’t have the evidence to support their case.
2. Community Relations. Black murders are statistically less likely to be solved than white murders. As black victims of gun murders has increased, the poor relations between black Americans and police officers have made it harder for police to get evidence. Some communities don’t trust the police because of evidence of racism and instead of working together they take things into their own hands which creates a cycle of violence that is difficult to interrupt.
3. Guns. In the 1960’s, about 50% of murders were committed with a gun. Now almost 80% of murders are committed with guns. As the number of murders by firearm went up, the murder clearance rate went down, almost at an identical rate.
We are a country awash in guns. Not only are we selling more guns, enduring more homicides, we aren’t even holding people accountable for these gun deaths. While the solutions to ending gun violence are multi-faceted and not one-sized-fits-all, one of the key components is solving existing cases.
Cold cases leave an impact on communities that is felt for years, if not generations. When violent crimes like gun homicide goes unsolved, it can create a sense of fear and uncertainty in the community. Residents may worry that the perpetrator is still at large and could strike again. Families and friends of the victim are left to grieve without closure, and the lack of justice can lead to a loss of trust in law enforcement. In some cases, the trauma of an unsolved case can be passed down through families and continue to impact future generations. The effects of cold cases are far-reaching and highlight the importance of brining closure to these case for the sake of the victim’s loved ones and the community as a whole.
We need to solve the unsolved.