MURDER CLEARANCES AND MISSING DATA

ABSTRACT

From 1960 to 1992, the percent of murders cleared by arrests in the United States has steadily declined from 93 percent to 65 percent. Previous research has focused on characteristics of police officers, police organizations, or third party participation in violence. The present study examines clearances from the viewpoint of victim and event characteristics and patterns of missing data. The data were drawn from the Victim Level Murder file maintained by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority and consisted of 3,066 single victim murders in Chicago from 1987 through 1991. Results indicated that murders involving concomitant felonies were cleared substantially less frequently than nonfelony murders. This relationship was not affected by victim race, gender, or weapon used. There was interaction between victim age, murder circumstances and clearances. Analysis of missing data patterns suggested those cases lacking information on murder circumstances may involve both felony and nonfelony murders.