In 2022, murder and manslaughter charges had the highest crime clearance rate in the United States, with 52.3 percent of all cases being cleared by arrest or so-called exceptional means. Motor vehicle theft cases had the lowest crime clearance rate, at 9.3 percent.
What is crime clearance?
Within the U.S. criminal justice system, criminal cases can be cleared (or closed) one of two ways. The first is through arrest, which means that at least one person has either been arrested, charged with an offense, or turned over to the court for prosecution. The second way a case can be closed is through what is called exceptional means, where law enforcement must have either identified the offender, gathered enough evidence to arrest, charge, and prosecute someone, identified the offender’s exact location, or come up against a circumstance outside the control of law enforcement that keeps them from arresting and prosecuting the offender.
Crime in the United States
Despite what many people may believe, crime in the United States has been on the decline. Particularly in regard to violent crime, the violent crime rate has almost halved since 1990, meaning that the U.S. is safer than it was almost 30 years ago. However, due to the FBI's recent transition to a new crime reporting system in which law enforcement agencies voluntarily report crime data, it is possible that figures do not accurately reflect the total amount of crime in the country.
Crime clearance rate in the United States in 2022, by type
Due to the FBI's transition to a new crime reporting system, only 15,726 of 18,888 participating law enforcement agencies submitted crime data to the FBI for 2022. As a result, figures may not accurately reflect the total number of crimes.
Figures shown for rape only include those reported by law enforcement agencies using the revised Uniform Crime Reporting definition of rape.
Not all agencies submit reports for arson to the FBI. As a result, the number of reports the FBI uses to compute the percent of offenses cleared for arson is less than the number it uses to compute the percent of offenses cleared for all other offenses.
Data can be found in the Documents & Downloads section of the FBI's Crime Data Explorer, under 'Crime in the United States Annual Reports', by downloading the collection file labeled Offenses Known to Law Enforcement.
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FBI. (October 16, 2023). Crime clearance rate in the United States in 2022, by type [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved November 03, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/194213/crime-clearance-rate-by-type-in-the-us/
FBI. "Crime clearance rate in the United States in 2022, by type." Chart. October 16, 2023. Statista. Accessed November 03, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/194213/crime-clearance-rate-by-type-in-the-us/
FBI. (2023). Crime clearance rate in the United States in 2022, by type. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: November 03, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/194213/crime-clearance-rate-by-type-in-the-us/
FBI. "Crime Clearance Rate in The United States in 2022, by Type." Statista, Statista Inc., 16 Oct 2023, https://www.statista.com/statistics/194213/crime-clearance-rate-by-type-in-the-us/
FBI, Crime clearance rate in the United States in 2022, by type Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/194213/crime-clearance-rate-by-type-in-the-us/ (last visited November 03, 2024)
Crime clearance rate in the United States in 2022, by type [Graph], FBI, October 16, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/194213/crime-clearance-rate-by-type-in-the-us/