Misguided law enforcement priorities
We should place a moratorium on the drug war until clearance rates pass 95 percent for crimes of violence and property offenses
The clearance rates for crimes is the percentage that lead to at least an arrest (not a conviction).
The appalling low rates demonstrate the urgency of shifting all law enforcement resources devoted to “consensual crimes” like drugs or prostitution to investigating far more alarming, anti-social offenses. The shift should be a no-brainer.
According to the FBI, the clearance rate for murder and non-negligent manslaughter is 61.6 percent, meaning more than one-third of homicide offenses do not result in a single arrestee.
The clearance rate for rape is a shocking 34.5 percent, or one arrest for every three rapes.
The clearance rate for robbery is a dismal 29.7 percent, meaning crime often pays.
The clearance rate for aggravated assault is 53.3 percent.
The clearance rates for the property offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft are 13.5 percent, 19.2 percent, and 13.7 percent, respectively.
These figures underscore why crime remains a front-burner political issue both for Democrats and Republicans. Exemplary was yesterday’s announcement by President Joe Biden that he would sign a Republican-led congressional resolution that would overturn revisions of the District of Columbia criminal code passed by the City Council lessening criminal sentences.
Success in crime fighting means clearance rates of 95 percent or more for all major crimes. Insurance rates would plunge and property values would climb. Until the 95 percent threshold is satisfied, no law enforcement resources should be squandered on investigating purely consensual crimes like illegal drug or alcohol use or prostitution. The latter are indistinguishable from the discredited Prohibition Era which had law enforcement acting like schoolmarms for adults.
Further, consensual crimes can be discouraged by social ostracism. They are also inherently unattractive because they they are self-ruinous to the users economically, socially, and morally even without a criminal conviction.
Time for a moratorium in the war on drugs and sister consensual offenses until the grades for clearance rates for serious crimes jump from C- or less to A.