Q&A of the Day – How Effective is Florida at Solving Crimes?
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Today’s Entry: @brianmuddradio Speaking of the Uniform Crime Report… As nearly half of US murders go unsolved, how does Florida compare?
Bottom Line: Today’s note comes on the back of Florida’s recent Uniform Crime Report showing crime – of all types – was yet again lower over the past year leading to a fresh 50-year crime rate low across the state. (with the caveat that only about 60% of the state was reporting this year due to software changes which led to some jurisdictions not reporting to the feds). That included violent crime falling by 4.3% over the past year with property crime falling by 10.7%. Specific to the most heinous crimes of all – murders – Florida saw 1,110 of them over the past year in the 36 reporting counties, which did include two of the three most populous in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach. That was a decline of 183 murders, or just over 14%, in the reporting counties. That’s great news as murders declined at a rate that was far better than other types of crimes. In South Florida, it was a mixed bag. Murder rates in Palm Beach County were 15% lower than the state average, however in Miami-Dade they were 58% above state average – one of the highest rates in the state. But to the point of today’s question... How many of these murders will be solved...?
This topic has gained additional attention over the past few weeks as the high-profile and grisly murder of four college students in Idaho hasn’t even produced a suspect to date. But to the crux of your question...this is increasingly common. One might think that with the improvements in technology and cameras seemingly being everywhere, we’d be getting better at solving murders. As the case appears to be, it’s a situation in which murderers have made more progress in hiding their crimes than law enforcement agencies have in solving these cases. The law enforcement term for solving a case to is “clear” it. The peak of clearing murders was greater than 90% in the 1960’s, however it’s been falling ever since. Most recently and to the point of today’s note, according to the FBI’s database, only 54% of murders are cleared. Sadly, what we’re seeing play out in Idaho, at least to this point, is about as common as a murderer being brought to justice.
Among police agencies there’s a huge gap in clearance rates for murder. The worst rate is in Cleveland where only 11% of murders were cleared over the past year. There were several which were successful in clearing 100% of all murders within their jurisdiction. So, what about Florida? Florida’s clearance rate is well above average. Most recently Florida’s murder clearance rate is 66%. That said, there’s a vast difference based upon geography. Over the past year, of the five agencies which investigated at least five homicides, Broward had the lowest clearance rate, while Hernando County had the highest. The gap is huge. Just 13% of murders were cleared in Broward, while Hernando cleared 186% of murders (meaning they not only solved all new murders but also some that hadn’t been cleared in prior years). All of the lowest clear rates are agencies in South Florida.
- The five lowest ranging from 13% to 31% clears are Broward, Lauderhill, Lauderdale Lakes, Hallandale Beach and Riviera Beach.
- There were eight agencies in the state of Florida which cleared at least 100% of murder cases: Hernando County, Hialeah, Gainesville, Volusia County, Pinellas County, Citrus County, Melbourne and Brevard County.
Among the county law enforcement agencies in South Florida the rates were:
- Palm Beach County: 55%
- Miami-Dade 39%
- Broward 13%
While all of South Florida’s county agencies fall below the state average for murder clear rates, there are three very different lanes in the overall success of doing so with Palm Beach County slightly ahead of the national average with Dade and Broward falling well below it. It's easier to attempt to draw deductions about why this is the case, than it perhaps is fair to make them. Some types of murder are simply easier to solve than others. That said, Southeast Florida by far has the highest number and rate of unsolved murders in our state. But yes, overall, just as Florida’s overall crime rate is below the national average, our agencies are generally far more successful at solving the most heinous crimes of all – though the long-term trend of ever more cold cases is concerning everywhere.