Police Having Harder Time Solving Murders

The Scripps Howard News Service has released a study involving unsolved murders.  The study reveals an alarming rise in the number of unsolved murders.  Of the nation's 100 largest police departments only 63% of murders have been solved.  In the 1960's, this number was regularly at 90 percent.  Nearly 185,000 murders went unsolved between 1980 and 2008.  Police fail to make arrests in over one-third of all murders.  In Cook County, only about one-third of all murders since 1980 have been solved.  Police only solved 35 percent of the murders in Chicago in 2008.  Many experts believe that the reason for these numbers is that more and more murders are drug and gang related, as opposed to crimes of passion.  It's easier to identify a suspect in a crime of passion than in a drug or gang related murder.  The study showed a wide range or disparity in these numbers from city to city.  In New Orleans, only 22 percent of murders were solved.  In Detroit, only 21 percent of murders were solved.  In Philadelphia, 75 percent of murders were solved, 92 percent in Denver and 94 percent in San Diego.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.