Closing Cases: Improving Shooting and Homicide Clearance Rates to Advance Public Safety

Monday, October 21, 2024

8:00 AM – 9:30 AM ET

Location: 210A

Submitter(s)

GT

Gary A. Therkildsen, Jr.

Associate Director of Law Enforcement Outreach
Everytown for Gun Safety
Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Speaker(s)

Keenon James

Senior Director of the Everytown Survivor Network
Everytown for Gun Safety
Alexandria, Virginia, United States
Kathleen M. O'Toole, J.D.,Ph.D

Chief (Ret.)
Seattle (WA) Police Department, Boston (MA) Police Department
Sandwich, Massachusetts, United States
Michael G. Sullivan

Interim Chief
Phoenix (AZ) Police Department
Phoenix, Arizona, United States

After staying relatively stable for the past 30 years, clearance rates for all forms of crime began to fall precipitously during the COVID-19 pandemic in communities across the United States. While most rates of crime stayed relatively flat or declined slightly during that time, gun violence spiked. Combined with decreasing clearance rates, increasing gun homicides and nonfatal shootings pose serious challenges to the effectiveness of law enforcement’s ability to maintain public safety. Recently, some cities have begun to invest resources in improving their gun homicide and nonfatal shooting clearance rates. This panel will examine the strategies implemented by St. Louis and Phoenix to improve their clearance rates, as well as the interdependent needs of gun violence survivors.