One of the people that I get a newsletter from is Bill King. His articles are almost full of statistics.
Today, I received his newsletter regarding crime and clearance records. The record is dismal, to say the least.
It is even worse when one considers that at least half of violent crimes are not reported to the police, so that the clearance rate above is only for reported crimes. I would imagine that most murders are reported, but there could just be missing persons whose bodies were never recovered.
I was watching Death Wish on Amazon Prime with Bruce Willis, and they stated that police don’t prevent crimes; they are always getting there after the fact, if by only a few minutes. That is primarily a true statement, but I imagine that where there is a police car, there is probably some crime not occurring because they are there. That is why so many places give free food to police officers.
So why exactly are we paying police officers for? To solve crimes or get our property back if stolen, with some exceptions, that does not happen. Even on the murder rate clearance, the rewards they offer may lead to the capture of the perpetrator.