| Criminology |
|---|
.svg) |
| Main Theories |
| Methods |
| Subfields and other major theories |
| Browse |
In criminal justice, clearance rate is calculated by dividing the number of crimes that are "cleared", a criminal charge being laid, or convicted by the total number of crimes recorded. Various groups use clearance rates as a measure of crimes solved by the police.
Clearance rates can be problematic for measuring the performance of police services and for comparing various police services. This is because a police force may employ a different way of measuring clearance rates. For example, each police force may have a different method of recording when a "crime" has occurred and different criteria for determining when a crime has been "cleared." A given police force may appear to have a much better clearance rate because of its calculation methodology.[1]
In system conflict theory, it is argued that clearance rates cause the police to focus on appearing to solve crimes (generating high clearance rate scores) rather than actually solving crimes. Further focus on clearance rates may result in effort being expended to attribute crimes (correctly or incorrectly) to a criminal, which may not result in retribution, compensation, rehabilitation or deterrence.[citation needed]
Homicide clearance rate differs between countries, with around 98% in Finland and around 24% in Trinidad and Tobago, a direct comparison is limited due to differing definitions and criminal justice procedures.[2]
- ^ Greene, Jack R. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Police Science, Volume 1. Oxfordshire, United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis. p. 907. ISBN 978-0415970006. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
- ^ Liem, Marieke; Suonpää, Karoliina; Lehti, Martti; Kivivuori, Janne; Granath, Sven; Walser, Simone; Killias, Martin (30 March 2018). "Homicide clearance in Western Europe". European Journal of Criminology. 16 (1). SAGE Publications: 81–101. doi:10.1177/1477370818764840. hdl:1887/64091. ISSN 1477-3708. PMC 6328993. PMID 30675132.