NPR’s Ailsa Chang speaks with Philadelphia Inquirer crime reporter Ellie Rushing about how declining violent crime and new technology are leading to a high rate of solved homicides.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
This year in Philadelphia, it’s been harder to get away with murder. Violent crime has declined sharply, as it has in many other cities, and Philadelphia police are now solving homicides at the highest rate since 1984. Ellie Rushing reports on crime for The Philadelphia Inquirer and dug into this story and joins us now. To welcome.
ELLIE RUSHING: Thank you very much for having me. I’m really happy to be here.
CHANG: Oh, I’m happy to have you. So let me ask you this. This year, Philadelphia’s solved homicide rate has fluctuated between 86 and 91 percent from month to month. That’s the percentage of homicides solved, right? – which sounds impressive. How does this compare to recent years?
RUSHING: Yeah. This is a welcome improvement from the serious difficulties police faced in solving homicides, particularly between 2015 and 2022. During those seven years, the rate of solved homicides hovered around 50% or less. And in 2021, as the city experienced its largest gun violence crisis, that rate fell to an all-time low of 41.8%.
CHANG: Wow.
RUSHING: Then only…
CHANG: Less than half of the homicides were solved.
RUSHING: That’s right. Less than half of the murders committed in the city were solved.
CHANG: And let’s talk about: What are the consequences when solved homicide rates are lower? What are the ripple effects?
RUSHING: Well, when shootings and particularly violent crimes and homicides go unanswered, it can strain the relationship between the police department and the community. In Philadelphia, most of those affected by gun violence are black and brown residents, particularly young men. As a result, their families may feel that their murders do not matter and that the police are not doing enough to solve these crimes. And so, you know, they won’t help them in those cases. And experts also said that, fundamentally, arresting shooters prevents them from committing more violence and becoming victims of retaliatory shootings themselves. And it can really deter other people from committing more shootings by sending a message of accountability.
CHANG: Well, could one of the main factors behind the improvement in clearance rates be the fact that there are generally fewer murders for police to deal with, so they would simply have more time to solve murder cases?
RUSHING: Certainly. Philadelphia is currently on track to record its lowest number of homicides since the 1960s, so that has given detectives much more time to investigate the cases before them. I mean, during the pandemic, detectives were handling 10 to 15 cases a year, more than double the workload recommended by the U.S. Department of Justice. And this year, it’s half. And some of this comes down to simple math, too. I want to make sure it’s clear, right? While we have significantly fewer murders this year, an even lower total number of arrests may increase that clearance rate.
CHANG: Absolutely. Well, your article – it also delves into technological improvements within the police department, like better cameras and forensic equipment. By the way, how good are these cameras?
RUSHING: These cameras are incredible. I mean, they can zoom in on the name of a candy bar wrapper that’s on the floor or on someone’s fine lines…
CHANG: Wow.
RUSHING: …Tattoos on the arms or neck. And so in 2024, the police said there were about 3,600…
CHANG: Wow.
PREVIOUS: …Through the city. This year, there are 7,300, and that doesn’t even include…
CHANG: Wow.
RUSHING: …All the tens of thousands of other cameras on public transit, private businesses, residents, like Ring cameras. And so, more often than not, the police now film these shootings.
CHANG: Wow. So these technological innovations definitely help the police in solving cases.
RUSHING: Certainly. And police have also installed hundreds of license plate readers across the city. So if the police are looking for a getaway car, they can trace the path of that car and then recover that getaway car faster and get some really important evidence.
CHANG: Well, despite the positive trend in solved homicide rates, it’s not that murders are now down to zero. It’s not poverty, gang activity, illegal guns, drug dealing – it’s not like any of that has disappeared. So I’m wondering if Philadelphia residents are seeing this improvement in clearance rates, at least the people you’ve talked to? Do they feel safer?
RUSHING: It’s hard to say. Because when we looked at this data, it showed that almost 800 murders took place between 2021 and 2023 that have yet to result in an arrest. And so these are hundreds of families, thousands of people across the city who are, you know, left in this purgatory of…
CHANG: Yeah.
RUSHING: …Grief, which yearns for answers and responsibilities. And, you know, I think the families that have seen arrests this year, obviously, you know, their relationships with their detectives and the police have improved. But there is a lot of work to be done.
CHANG: Indeed. Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Ellie Rushing. Thank you very much for your truly fascinating report.
RUSHING: Thank you very much for having me.
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