In criminal justice, clearance rate is calculated by dividing the number of crimes that are "cleared" (a charge being laid) by the total number of crimes recorded. Clearance rates are used by various groups as a measure of crimes solved by the police.
U.S. 2004 clearance rates separated by crime type
Clearance rates can be problematic for measuring the performance of police services and for comparing various police services. This is because a police force may employ a different way of measuring clearance rates. For example, each police force may have a different method of recording when a "crime" has occurred and different criteria for determining when a crime has been "cleared." A given police force may appear to have a much better clearance rate because of its calculation methodology.[1]
Some U.S. police forces have been criticized for overuse of "exceptional clearance", which is intended to classify as "cleared" cases where probable cause to arrest a suspect exists, but police are unable to do so for reasons outside their control (such as death or incarceration in a foreign country).[2]
In system conflict theory, it is argued that clearance rates cause the police to focus on appearing to solve crimes (generating high clearance rate scores) rather than actually solving crimes. Further focus on clearance rates may result in effort being expended to attribute crimes (correctly or incorrectly) to a criminal, which may not result in retribution, compensation, rehabilitation or deterrence.[citation needed]
^Greene, Jack R. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Police Science, Volume 1. Oxfordshire, United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis. p. 907. ISBN978-0415970006. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
^Mark Greenblatt; Mark Fahey; Bernice Yeung (November 16, 2018). "Case Cleared: The Consequences Of 'Exceptional Clearance'".
Further readingedit
Schmalleger, Frank. Criminal Justice Today, An Introductory Text For The 21st Century.
External linksedit
Wesley Lowery; Kimbriell Kelly; Ted Mellnik; Steven Rich (2018-06-06). "Where Murders Go Unsolved". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-10-07. - "The Post has mapped more than 52,000 homicides in major American cities over the past decade and found that across the country, there are areas where murder is common but arrests are rare."
clearance, rate, this, article, about, criminological, term, pharmacological, term, clearance, pharmacology, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, mater. This article is about the criminological term For the pharmacological term see clearance pharmacology This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Clearance rate news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject You may improve this article discuss the issue on the talk page or create a new article as appropriate October 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message In criminal justice clearance rate is calculated by dividing the number of crimes that are cleared a charge being laid by the total number of crimes recorded Clearance rates are used by various groups as a measure of crimes solved by the police U S 2004 clearance rates separated by crime typeClearance rates can be problematic for measuring the performance of police services and for comparing various police services This is because a police force may employ a different way of measuring clearance rates For example each police force may have a different method of recording when a crime has occurred and different criteria for determining when a crime has been cleared A given police force may appear to have a much better clearance rate because of its calculation methodology 1 Some U S police forces have been criticized for overuse of exceptional clearance which is intended to classify as cleared cases where probable cause to arrest a suspect exists but police are unable to do so for reasons outside their control such as death or incarceration in a foreign country 2 In system conflict theory it is argued that clearance rates cause the police to focus on appearingto solve crimes generating high clearance rate scores rather than actually solving crimes Further focus on clearance rates may result in effort being expended to attribute crimes correctly or incorrectly to a criminal which may not result in retribution compensation rehabilitation or deterrence citation needed Contents 1 References 2 Further reading 3 External links 4 See alsoReferences edit Greene Jack R 2007 The Encyclopedia of Police Science Volume 1 Oxfordshire United Kingdom Taylor amp Francis p 907 ISBN 978 0415970006 Retrieved 4 August 2019 Mark Greenblatt Mark Fahey Bernice Yeung November 16 2018 Case Cleared The Consequences Of Exceptional Clearance Further reading editSchmalleger Frank Criminal Justice Today An Introductory Text For The 21st Century External links editWesley Lowery Kimbriell Kelly Ted Mellnik Steven Rich 2018 06 06 Where Murders Go Unsolved The Washington Post Retrieved 2019 10 07 The Post has mapped more than 52 000 homicides in major American cities over the past decade and found that across the country there are areas where murder is common but arrests are rare See also editCriminal investigation List of unsolved deaths nbsp This criminology related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte nbsp This law enforcement related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Clearance rate amp oldid 1183211803, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
