50/50 whether homicides get solved

The national clearance rate for homicides has fallen to about 50%, the lowest in more than 50 years, according to this article. It was 83% in 1965. A few states do substantially better than others — Alabama and Nebraska were best at 83% over the period 2015-2020, while Rhode Island was lowest at 21% (a quarter of the states have had data problems making it impossible to calculate their clearance rates over the 5-year period). The data also indicate lower clearance rates for victims of color. The article provides examples from several cities, noting an unusually high proportion of exceptional clearances in Chicago, which had a 44% clearance rate in 2020, but half were exceptional clearances.

More died from gunshots than car crashes in 2020

According to CDC data, gunshot deaths exceeded car crash fatalities in 2020 for the 4th year in a row, as reported here. More than 45,000 people died of gunshot wounds in the U.S., an all-time high. The total was up 14% over 2019, the biggest one year spike on record. The age-adjusted gun death rate was the highest since 1994. The increase was largely driven by homicides, which increased 35% in one year. Mississippi and Louisiana had the highest rates of gun deaths, while Hawaii, Massachusetts, and New Jersey had the lowest. Mississippi’s rate was more than 8 times higher than Hawaii’s and more than twice the national average. Nationally, Black males between the ages of 15-34 continued to bear the brunt of gun homicides, accounting for 42% of victims — but representing only 2% of the population.

Firearms mortality by state

In 2020, 44,000 Americans died by firearm in the U.S. — almost 20,000 by murder or accident, and 24,000 by suicide. This short column presents data on death by firearms by state for the previous year, 2019. Two states, Alaska and Mississippi, had firearms mortality rates 7 times higher than the state with the lowest rate, Massachusetts. Besides Alaska and Mississippi, other states with rates above 20 per 100,000 population were Alabama, Louisiana, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Missouri. Along with Massachusetts, states with fewer than 5 per 100,000 were Hawaii, New Jersey, and New York.

Gun deaths in the U.S.

This report provides a variety of information about gun deaths (murder, suicide, and accident) in the U.S. in 2018 and over the preceding decade, based on CDC data. Nationally over the 10-year period, gun death rates increased 18%, with suicide the most common category each year. Comparing states for total gun deaths in 2018, Mississippi, Alabama, Wyoming, and Missouri had the highest rates, more than 5 times higher than in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Hawaii, and New York. Looking just at gun homicides, Mississippi had the highest rate in 2018, more than 10 times above the lowest, Utah.

Threatening to commit mass shootings

This article reports over 40 people arrested around the country over the last month for threatening to commit mass shootings or bombings, most after tips from the public. Common themes included right-wing ideology and threats against schools, Walmarts, and Planned Parenthood. The nature of the cases ranged from “vague social media threats from juveniles that set parents on edge to well-developed plots from people who had access to weapons and appeared to authorities to have been planning a mass murder.”

Gun death rates

This column compares the 50 states on gun death rates, noting that nationally, over half are suicides while 37% are homicides. Alaska, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma have the highest gun death rates, all at least 5 times higher than Massachusetts, which has the lowest rate. Other states with the lowest rates are New York, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

Breaking the color barrier in 1963

This article tells the story of Joe Land, one of six black officers hired in 1963 to break the color barrier in Jackson, Mississippi. Both the current police chief and county sheriff credit him with opening the door and setting an example for many to follow.

ROI for police spending

This article assesses the “return on investment” for police spending in the 110 largest U.S. cities. Unadjusted, the leaders are Louisville, Lincoln, and Lexington. When city economic factors are considered (degree of difficulty), the best three are Flint, Jackson, and El Paso. It should be noted that the sole measure of “return” was reported crime rates. In raw dollars, the cities that spent the most per capita for police protection were Washington, Ft. Lauderdale, St. Louis, Orlando, Tampa, and New York.