Police are struggling to solve murders as homicides rise and the Covid-19 pandemic creates new challenges to cracking cases.
Homicides were up nearly 40% for the country’s 10 largest police departments in the first 11 months of 2020 compared to the same period last year.The clearance rate at nine departments that provided data was down by an average of 7 percentage points to about 59%.
The sudden rise of homicides across the country, a reversal after a general decline in the nationwide murder rate since the early 1990s, has overwhelmed detectives, some police officials say.
Among other factors, Covid-19 has complicated face-to-face interviews and made it easier for masked suspects to elude capture.