Drudge Retort: The Other Side of the News
Monday, July 07, 2025

In the US, people are getting away with murder. The clearance rate, the share of cases that result in an arrest or are otherwise solved, was 58% in 2023. In other words, a murderer's chance of getting caught within a year essentially comes down to a coin flip. For other crimes, clearance rates are even lower. Only 8% of car thefts result in an arrest. Compared with its peers, America overall does an unusually poor job of solving killings. The murder clearance rates of other rich nations, including Australia, Britain, and Germany, hover in the 70s, 80s and even 90s. Several issues, including a lack of resources, the sheer volume of cases, and a distrust of the police, have converged to make the jobs of American detectives much more difficult. "It's a serious problem," said Philip Cook, a criminal justice researcher at Duke University. The lack of legal accountability emboldens criminals, leading to more crime and violence resulting in "a vicious cycle."

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Every eleven minutes, someone uses a firearm to kill someone in the US. American police are the direct descendants of the Slave Patrol, more akin to political control than genuine sleuthing. There are probably more stories of police abuse than a crime being solved on any given day in the US. A USDJ just ruled that an abusive, violent Seattle police officer can be sued. When we add the tsunami of firearms which have permeated the country, distrust of the police because of their bad seeds, and economic inequalities, the result is a high homicide rate and just not enough Columbos' to solve all the crimes.
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The flip-side to this story is that the German police have yet to shoot and kill 1,000 suspects since 1945. This includes the Volkspolizei of the GDR. In contrast, American police forces kill an average 1,000 suspects per year.

Links:

en.wikipedia.org

statewatch.org

en.wikipedia.org

#1 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2025-07-07 05:51 AM | Reply

www.theguardian.com

#2 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2025-07-07 06:02 AM | Reply

#2: Excellent Doc, many thanks for that link. An Aussie woman was just convicted of cartoon number two.

My wife published my anthology of short story mysteries last year (under a different pseudonym).

#3 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2025-07-07 06:17 AM | Reply


The flip-side to this story is that the German police have yet to shoot and kill 1,000 suspects since 1945.

Whats their 100yr running average?

#4 | Posted by oneironaut at 2025-07-07 10:18 AM | Reply | Funny: 1

The more crude and cruel the American culture becomes, the more we see how poorly we have done; we are basically last among major nations in healthcare, for example... and most people don't even know that; we've believed our own myths about being all about Truth, Justice, and the American Way.

Which Way is become a back road, not a highway.

#5 | Posted by Corky at 2025-07-07 12:15 PM | Reply

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