In 2023, murder and manslaughter charges had the highest crime clearance rate in the United States, with 57.8 percent of all cases being cleared by arrest or so-called exceptional means. Motor vehicle theft cases had the lowest crime clearance rate, at 8.2 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.

In 2023, the clearance rate for robberies in the South of the United States stood at 24.5 percent. The clearance rate for robberies was highest in the Northeast, at 38.3 percent. Crime clearance is when an arrest is made in a case, or it is cleared by exceptional means.

This dataset provides the crime clearance rate nationally and for the City of Tempe. An overall clearance rate is developed as part of the Department’s report for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Uniform Crime Report (UCR) Program. The statistics in the UCR Program are based on reports the Tempe Police Department officially submits to the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS).In the UCR Program, there are two ways that a law enforcement agency can report that an offense is cleared:(1) cleared by arrest or solved for crime reporting purposes or(2) cleared by exceptional means.An offense is cleared by arrest, or solved for crime reporting purposes, when three specific conditions have been met. The three conditions are that at least one person has been: (1) arrested; (2) charged with the commission of the offense; and (3) turned over to the court for prosecution.In some situations, an agency may be prevented from arresting and formally charging an offender due to factors outside of the agency's control. In these cases, an offense can be cleared by exceptional means, if the following four conditions are met: (1) identified the offender; (2) gathered enough evidence to support an arrest, make a charge, and turn over the offender to the court for prosecution; (3) identified offender’s exact location so that suspect can immediately be taken into custody; and (4) encountered a circumstance outside law enforcement's control that prohibits arresting, charging and prosecuting the offender.The UCR clearance rate is one tool for helping the police to understand and assess success at investigating crimes. However, these rates should be interpreted with an understanding of the unique challenges faced with reporting and investigating crimes. Clearance rates for a given year may be greater than 100% because a clearance is reported for the year the clearance occurs, which may not be the same year that the crime occurred. Often, investigations may take months or years, resulting in cases being cleared years after the actual offense. Additionally, there may be delays in the reporting of crimes, which would push the clearance of the case out beyond the year it happened.This page provides data for the Violent Cases Clearance Rate performance measure. The performance measure dashboard is available at 1.12 Violent Cases Clearance Rate.Additional InformationSource: Tempe Police Department (TPD) Versadex Records Management System (RMS) submitted to Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZ DPS) who submits data to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)Contact (author): Contact E-Mail (author): Contact (maintainer): Brooks LoutonContact E-Mail (maintainer): Brooks_Louton@tempe.govData Source Type: ExcelPreparation Method: Drawn from the Annual FBI Crime In the United States PublicationPublish Frequency: AnnuallyPublish Method: ManualData Dictionary

In 2020, around 28.5 percent of all known rape offenses in cities in the United States were cleared by arrest or by exceptional means. In that same year, 52.3 percent of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter cases in U.S. citites were cleared by arrest or by exceptional means.

This data set is no longer compiled by the Ministry of the Solicitor General. The weighted clearance rate is based on the same principles as the Police Reported Crime Severity Index. In these figures, serious offences are assigned a higher "weight" than less serious offences. For example, solving homicides and robberies has a greater contribution to the overall weighted clearance rate than solving minor theft or mischief cases. The data can be accessed from Statistics Canada.

Crime severity index (violent, non-violent, youth) and weighted clearance rates (violent, non-violent), Canada, provinces, territories and Census Metropolitan Areas, 1998 to 2023.

In 2023, police in Germany solved 58.4 percent of crimes. Figures fluctuated slightly during recent years, but were higher than the crime clearance rate in the 1990s.

This dataset provides the crime clearance rate nationally and for the City of Tempe. An overall clearance rate is developed as part of the Department’s report for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Uniform Crime Report (UCR) Program. The statistics in the UCR Program are based on reports the Tempe Police Department officially submits to the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS).In the UCR Program, there are two ways that a law enforcement agency can report that an offense is cleared:(1) cleared by arrest or solved for crime reporting purposes or(2) cleared by exceptional means.An offense is cleared by arrest, or solved for crime reporting purposes, when three specific conditions have been met. The three conditions are that at least one person has been: (1) arrested; (2) charged with the commission of the offense; and (3) turned over to the court for prosecution.In some situations, an agency may be prevented from arresting and formally charging an offender due to factors outside of the agency's control. In these cases, an offense can be cleared by exceptional means, if the following four conditions are met: (1) identified the offender; (2) gathered enough evidence to support an arrest, make a charge, and turn over the offender to the court for prosecution; (3) identified offender’s exact location so that suspect can immediately be taken into custody; and (4) encountered a circumstance outside law enforcement's control that prohibits arresting, charging and prosecuting the offender.The UCR clearance rate is one tool for helping the police to understand and assess success at investigating crimes. However, these rates should be interpreted with an understanding of the unique challenges faced with reporting and investigating crimes. Clearance rates for a given year may be greater than 100% because a clearance is reported for the year the clearance occurs, which may not be the same year that the crime occurred. Often, investigations may take months or years, resulting in cases being cleared years after the actual offense. Additionally, there may be delays in the reporting of crimes, which would push the clearance of the case out beyond the year it happened.This page provides data for the Violent Cases Clearance Rate performance measure. The performance measure dashboard is available at 1.12 Violent Cases Clearance Rate.Additional InformationSource: Tempe Police Department (TPD) Versadex Records Management System (RMS) submitted to Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZ DPS) who submits data to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)Contact (author): Contact E-Mail (author): Contact (maintainer): Brooks LoutonContact E-Mail (maintainer): Brooks_Louton@tempe.govData Source Type: ExcelPreparation Method: Drawn from the Annual FBI Crime In the United States PublicationPublish Frequency: AnnuallyPublish Method: ManualData Dictionary

The data within only represent 2019 and prior. As of January 2020, Mesa PD transitioned crime reporting to the FBI Unified Crime Reporting (UCR) Program from the Summary Reporting System (SRS) format to the new National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) format. For current clearance rate data based on NIBRS reporting standard please navigate to: https://citydata.mesaaz.gov/Police/Police-Case-Clearance-Rates/wzgc-a7ci

A case is considered “cleared” when it is cleared by arrest or exceptional means. Cases credited as “cleared” in a given month or year may have been opened in a previous month or year. For this reason, the clearance rate for a given period may be above 100%. For information and definitions about calculating clearance rates visit https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2018/crime-in-the-u.s.-2018/topic-pages/clearances

Analysis of ‘1.12 Clearance Rates (summary)’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/ac7cf429-0791-455f-9303-c44fc8c14e31 on 11 February 2022.

--- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

This dataset provides the crime clearance rate nationally and for the City of Tempe. An overall clearance rate is developed as part of the Department’s report for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Uniform Crime Report (UCR) Program. The statistics in the UCR Program are based on reports the Tempe Police Department officially submits to the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS).

In the UCR Program, there are two ways that a law enforcement agency can report that an offense is cleared:

(1) cleared by arrest or solved for crime reporting purposes or

(2) cleared by exceptional means.

An offense is cleared by arrest, or solved for crime reporting purposes, when three specific conditions have been met. The three conditions are that at least one person has been: (1) arrested; (2) charged with the commission of the offense; and (3) turned over to the court for prosecution.

In some situations, an agency may be prevented from arresting and formally charging an offender due to factors outside of the agency's control. In these cases, an offense can be cleared by exceptional means, if the following four conditions are met: (1) identified the offender; (2) gathered enough evidence to support an arrest, make a charge, and turn over the offender to the court for prosecution; (3) identified offender’s exact location so that suspect can immediately be taken into custody; and (4) encountered a circumstance outside law enforcement's control that prohibits arresting, charging and prosecuting the offender.

The UCR clearance rate is one tool for helping the police to understand and assess success at investigating crimes. However, these rates should be interpreted with an understanding of the unique challenges faced with reporting and investigating crimes. Clearance rates for a given year may be greater than 100% because a clearance is reported for the year the clearance occurs, which may not be the same year that the crime occurred. Often, investigations may take months or years, resulting in cases being cleared years after the actual offense. Additionally, there may be delays in the reporting of crimes, which would push the clearance of the case out beyond the year it happened.

This page provides data for the Violent Cases Clearance Rate performance measure.

The performance measure dashboard is available at 1.12 Violent Cases Clearance Rate.

Additional Information

Source: Tempe Police Department (TPD) Versadex Records Management System (RMS) submitted to Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZ DPS) who submits data to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)

Contact (author):

Contact E-Mail (author):

Contact (maintainer): Brooks Louton

Contact E-Mail (maintainer): Brooks_Louton@tempe.gov

Data Source Type: Excel

Preparation Method: Drawn from the Annual FBI Crime In the United States Publication

Publish Frequency: Annually

Publish Method: Manual

Data Dictionary

--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

Clearance rates for FBI index crimes in 2017, 2020, and 2021 in the San Diego region. For each category, clearance rates are calculated by dividing the number of crimes solved by the total amount of crimes committed.

Crime severity index (violent, non-violent, youth) and weighted clearance rates (violent, non-violent), police services in Ontario, 1998 to 2023.

In 2020, around 37.2 percent of all known rape offenses in metropolitan counties in the United States were cleared by arrest or by exceptional means. For murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, 61.8 percent of known cases were cleared by arrest or exceptional means.

A dashboard used by government agencies to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and communicate progress made on strategic outcomes with the general public and other interested stakeholders.

This dataset provides the crime clearance rate nationally and for the City of Tempe. An overall clearance rate is developed as part of the Department’s report for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Uniform Crime Report (UCR) Program. The statistics in the UCR Program are based on reports the Tempe Police Department officially submits to the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS).In the UCR Program, there are two ways that a law enforcement agency can report that an offense is cleared:(1) cleared by arrest or solved for crime reporting purposes or(2) cleared by exceptional means.An offense is cleared by arrest, or solved for crime reporting purposes, when three specific conditions have been met. The three conditions are that at least one person has been: (1) arrested; (2) charged with the commission of the offense; and (3) turned over to the court for prosecution.In some situations, an agency may be prevented from arresting and formally charging an offender due to factors outside of the agency's control. In these cases, an offense can be cleared by exceptional means, if the following four conditions are met: (1) identified the offender; (2) gathered enough evidence to support an arrest, make a charge, and turn over the offender to the court for prosecution; (3) identified offender’s exact location so that suspect can immediately be taken into custody; and (4) encountered a circumstance outside law enforcement's control that prohibits arresting, charging and prosecuting the offender.The UCR clearance rate is one tool for helping the police to understand and assess success at investigating crimes. However, these rates should be interpreted with an understanding of the unique challenges faced with reporting and investigating crimes. Clearance rates for a given year may be greater than 100% because a clearance is reported for the year the clearance occurs, which may not be the same year that the crime occurred. Often, investigations may take months or years, resulting in cases being cleared years after the actual offense. Additionally, there may be delays in the reporting of crimes, which would push the clearance of the case out beyond the year it happened.This page provides data for the Violent Cases Clearance Rate performance measure. The performance measure dashboard is available at 1.12 Violent Cases Clearance Rate.Additional InformationSource: Tempe Police Department (TPD) Versadex Records Management System (RMS) submitted to Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZ DPS) who submits data to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)Contact (author): Contact E-Mail (author): Contact (maintainer): Brooks LoutonContact E-Mail (maintainer): Brooks_Louton@tempe.govData Source Type: ExcelPreparation Method: Drawn from the Annual FBI Crime In the United States PublicationPublish Frequency: AnnuallyPublish Method: ManualData Dictionary

Crime severity index (violent, non-violent, youth) and weighted clearance rates (violent, non-violent), police services in the Atlantic provinces (Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick), 1998 to 2023.

This statistic shows the crime clearance rate in nonmetropolitan counties in the United States in 2019. In 2019, 36.9 percent of all known rape offenses in nonmetropolitan counties were cleared by arrest or by exceptional means.

Crime clearance and hate crime percent change rate in the San Diego Region for 2017, 2020, and 2021

In 2023, the violent crime rate in the United States was 363.8 cases per 100,000 of the population. Even though the violent crime rate has been decreasing since 1990, the United States tops the ranking of countries with the most prisoners. In addition, due to the FBI's transition to a new crime reporting system in which law enforcement agencies voluntarily submit crime reports, data may not accurately reflect the total number of crimes committed in recent years. Reported violent crime rate in the United States The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation tracks the rate of reported violent crimes per 100,000 U.S. inhabitants. In the timeline above, rates are shown starting in 1990. The rate of reported violent crime has fallen since a high of 758.20 reported crimes in 1991 to a low of 363.6 reported violent crimes in 2014. In 2023, there were around 1.22 million violent crimes reported to the FBI in the United States. This number can be compared to the total number of property crimes, roughly 6.41 million that year. Of violent crimes in 2023, aggravated assaults were the most common offenses in the United States, while homicide offenses were the least common. Law enforcement officers and crime clearance Though the violent crime rate was down in 2013, the number of law enforcement officers also fell. Between 2005 and 2009, the number of law enforcement officers in the United States rose from around 673,100 to 708,800. However, since 2009, the number of officers fell to a low of 626,900 officers in 2013. The number of law enforcement officers has since grown, reaching 720,652 in 2023. In 2023, the crime clearance rate in the U.S. was highest for murder and non-negligent manslaughter charges, with around 57.8 percent of murders being solved by investigators and a suspect being charged with the crime. Additionally, roughly 46.1 percent of aggravated assaults were cleared in that year. A statistics report on violent crime in the U.S. can be found here.

Crime severity index (violent, non-violent, youth) and weighted clearance rates (violent, non-violent), police services in British Columbia, 1998 to 2023.