Imagine 13,000 O.J. Simpsons every year
Getting away with murder is the rule, not the exception
It’s pretty easy to get away with murder.
Some cases are easy to solve, like OJ’s killing of his ex-wife and Ron Goldman. There was, for starters, a literal trail of blood from the crime scene to his Bronco to his home and bedroom. Despite a racially-driven “get out of jail” card, it was no whodunnit.
Most murders aren't so obvious. In fact, cops only make an arrest in 52% of murders in the United States. And it's been getting worse each year.
These are official numbers, but I don't buy those numbers from the 60s and 70s. They’re too impressive, likely inflated due to shoddy reporting standards and a higher rate of false arrests. We need to take those "good old days" numbers with a hefty grain of salt, but, even so, the numbers are sobering.
Combining the clearance rate with an estimated conviction rate of 70%, only about 36% of murderers face true justice. Plea deals make that number a bit higher, but not much.
You'd think with cameras on every corner and high-tech forensics that would've blown minds in the 1960s, we’d be seeing the opposite. So why are so many murders unsolved? There's no simple answer.
Higher standards for convictions
Cops today face a much higher bar for locking up killers than they did in the past. It's not enough anymore to just haul in a suspect and call it a day.
Prosecutors demand an airtight case backed by hard evidence before they'll even think about taking it to trial. DNA, video footage, multiple eyewitnesses - that's the kind of proof needed to secure a conviction these days.
Juries have seen too many episodes of CSI and expect forensic miracles in every case. This increased scrutiny means many murders technically go “unsolved” even when detectives have a pretty good idea who did it. Without slam dunk evidence, they're forced to let suspects walk free.
Changing nature of homicides
Murder isn’t what it used to be.
Back in the day, most killings were up close and personal - crimes of passion between people who knew each other. Jilted lovers, drunken brawls, family feuds. These cases practically solved themselves.
That’s shifted over the last decades. Murders today are more likely to involve guns, gangs, and drugs. Killers and victims are often strangers, with no clear motive or connection. "Unknown circumstance" has become more common in homicide investigations. Often, detectives are left grasping at straws, trying to piece together what happened from scant clues and uncooperative witnesses.
My sister Cathy and her boyfriend were murdered by a stranger, which I’ve written about before. It was in a remote location, and he had neither a connection to them nor any obvious motive. Police had no clue. Had he simply not later bragged to his wife about the killing, he never would have been arrested, let alone convicted.
Issues in minority neighborhoods
If you're black in America, murder is astronomically more common in your neighborhood – about 600% higher – and the odds of your killer being caught are lower than in the rest of the country.
Part of that can be attributed to overworked cops and, as we’re routinely told, authorities placing less importance on black deaths. Other factors are at play here, though, especially the trust gap between the streets and the badge.
"People don't want to cooperate, people don't want to come to court and testify,” said former Oakland deputy chief Drennon Lindsey. “And they're afraid of retaliation, of being labeled in their communities as a "snitch.” The sheer volume of gang violence and stranger killings in these communities compounds the problem.
America sees about 20,000 murders annually. We’re a big country, but each year sees about 13,000 O.J. Simpsons escape justice … at least in this life.
– Ken
Interesting comments from a media guy. Interesting in the sense corporate media thrives on sensationalism and the mouse clicks or eyeballs watching the mayhem.
Condolences for your sister.
Your comments regarding the changing of homicide trends, i.e. from suspects and victims knowing each other to complete stranger murders is right on point. It reveals an ever growing cultural indifference and the total lack of respect for life, where desensitized citizens gladly capture an incident on their cellphones, but heaven forbid they act to stop, let alone report a crime in progress.
With 30 years of LEO service I only see the trends continuing to decline in our country. I’m sadden for my grandchildren and their futures.
But will Bring back Vigilante Law alone if cops cant/wont do jobs