Skip to content

Friday, Aug. 23, 2024

Is the fact that most violent crimes in the US go unsolved a new phenomenon?

Tom Kertscher, Wisconsin Watch
no

For decades, most violent crimes reported to law enforcement in the U.S. have not been solved.

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance falsely suggested it was a recent phenomenon.

Alluding to Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, he said Aug. 20, 2024, in Kenosha, Wisconsin:

“Do you know that the gross majority now of violent crimes in this country go unsolved? … That is because of the leadership of our vice president.”

An April Pew Research Center analysis shows that in every year since 1993, the majority of reported violent crimes were not closed because of an arrest or other reason. The FBI defines violent crime as murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

The highest clearance rate was 50% in 1999.

The latest data show recent declines:

2017: 45.6%

2018: 45.5%

2019: 45.5%

2020: 41.7%

2021: Data unavailable

2022: 36.7% (lowest rate in past 30 years)

2023 data isn’t available until October.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

About fact briefs

Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.

See all fact briefs

Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.

Learn More

Latest Fact Briefs

Be a Friend of facts

Help us fund more great fact briefs like this one.