Clearance Rates

James P. Levine

Clearance rates are the percentage of reported or discovered crimes that are solved by the police. Cases are considered solved when arrests are made, even though they may not result in a conviction. Exceptional clearances are instances when police believe they have identified the perpetrator but are unable to make an arrest, as is the case when the perpetrator commits suicide or flees the country, or when the victim will not cooperate. Clearances also can occur when someone arrested for a particular offense then confesses to other crimes or is implicated in their commission. Clearance rates vary enormously from crime to crime. Thus, data from the Uniform Crime Reports assembled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) show the following nationwide clearance rates in the year 2000 (FBI, 2001): Murder 63.1% Forcible rape 46.9% Robbery 25.7% Aggravated assault 56.9% Burglary 13.4% Larceny-theft 18.2% Motor vehicle theft 14.1% Arson 20.5% Clearance ...

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