Crime Without Punishment | CBS Reports
In this CBS Reports documentary, Jim Axelrod peels back the curtain on a sobering reality of a justice system in crisis: For roughly half of the people murdered in America, no one is arrested for the crime.
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A look at unsolved murders in America
In a collaboration with CBS News, we examine a crime often going without punishment in our country. CBS2's Ali Bauman takes a closer look at racial disparities in homicide closure rates at the NYPD.
Barely half of murder cases in the United States get solved. The national homicide clearance rate is at an all-time low, according to FBI data. Oakland and San Francisco are seeing a large difference on solved cases, as Wilson Walker reports.
Barely half of murder cases in the U.S. get solved. The national homicide clearance rate is at an all-time low, according to FBI data. In the mid-1960s, more than 90% of murders were solved, generally resulting in the arrests. By 1990, that percentage fell into the 60s. Then, by 2020, as homicides surged, the national clearance rate dropped to about 50% for the first time ever.
Murders are going unsolved at a historic pace, and police are far less likely to solve cases when the victim is Black or Hispanic, a CBS News investigation has found.
The investigative team at CBS News wanted to understand how police were addressing this nearly unprecedented spike in murders – and why many were going unsolved.
Officials from more than 20 agencies are working together in a nondescript warehouse, investigating Baltimore's most brazen drug syndicates.
Mothers being asked to investigate the murders of their sons has become a reality in Jackson.
CBS News analyzed decades of unsolved murders across the country, and found stark racial disparities in the clearance rates — the share of cases each year that are solved.
Renee Hall, former chief of the Dallas Police Department, is the daughter of a police officer killed in the line of duty.
According to data analyzed by CBS News, the national homicide clearance rate has been improving for cases involving white victims, but falling for Black and Hispanic victims.
According to the FBI and the Detroit Police Department, homicide clearance rates in the city have risen as the national average has fallen.
An analysis of FBI crime data by CBS 2 has found that LAPD's homicide clearance rate has ebbed over the years in a way that is concerning.
Chicago Police have low arrest rates, but higher rates for cleared or closed cases. We dig into what's behind those numbers.
New research by the CBS News Innovation Lab shows the likelihood of a murder being solved in the US is significantly lower when the victims are Black or Hispanic.
In a collaboration with CBS News, CBS Sacramento is examining why crime is often going without punishment in our country. The national homicide clearance rate is at an all-time low, according to FBI data. Barely half of the murder cases in the United States get solved.
In Miami-Dade, the clearance rate for homicides in 2020 was 43%
Unsolved murders are a growing concern nationwide.
The murder rate in Philadelphia was 499 in 2020. That's a 40% increase from 2019.
A CBS News analysis of FBI homicide data shows Baltimore City's average clearance rate from 2015 to 2019 was just 38.7%, hitting a low of 29.7% in 2015, the tumultuous year when Freddie Gray was killed in police custody and arrests plummeted.
Murder, according to the FBI, is the most likely crime to be solved in the US, but nationally the rate of success has been in decline for years.
In a collaboration with CBS News, KDKA Investigates examines crime often going without punishment in our country.
The day after Terrell Mayes, Jr. celebrated Christmas with his family, the 3-year-old and his siblings heard gunshots. A stray bullet struck Terrell as he ran up the stairs inside his north Minneapolis home. For more than a decade, WCCO has followed his grieving mother's push to find her son's killer.
Denver police has made many changes in the decades since the shocking murder of Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams, including building a $28 million state-of-the-art crime lab.
In a collaboration with CBS News, KPIX 5 is examining a crime often going without punishment in our country. Barely half of murder cases in the United States get solved.
The wildfire, which has torn through Palo Pinto and Jack counties, forced evacuations, closed roads and disrupted schools.
The visit mixes official talks with Irish leaders and attendance at the Irish Open at a golf course that the president owns.
The USS George Washington, with its approximately 5,000 personnel, fighter jets and munitions, is the backbone of the U.S. military's tactical operation in the Iran war.
Now the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine was a young fighter pilot mobilized in the response on Sept. 11, 2001.
A federal jury in Los Angeles has acquitted Grammy-winning Chicago rapper Lil Durk in a murder-for-hire plot targeting another rapper.
Affordable Care Act recipients in 30 states are set to receive the $500 checks starting in October. Here's why.
The adjustment could provide financial relief for taxpayers who find that more of their income is taxed at lower rates, a Bloomberg analysis suggests.
Some workers are seeing stronger wage growth by switching jobs, while others are "job-hugging" because of AI, research shows.
Investors believe the Fed will raise borrowing costs as it works to tame inflation, which has risen a full percentage point since the Iran war started.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there is no longer a risk of people getting sick with cyclosporiasis from this outbreak and is confident that all related iceberg lettuce is off the market.
The visit mixes official talks with Irish leaders and attendance at the Irish Open at a golf course that the president owns.
The USS George Washington, with its approximately 5,000 personnel, fighter jets and munitions, is the backbone of the U.S. military's tactical operation in the Iran war.
Now the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine was a young fighter pilot mobilized in the response on Sept. 11, 2001.
The court filing did not indicate what charges David Rush could plead to.
The candidates in Michigan's closely watched U.S. Senate race, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers, have exchanged criticism over their records on the 9/11 attacks.
Kate Ping thought she was just stressed out. A nurse practitioner's surprising recommendation led to a shocking diagnosis.
Affordable Care Act recipients in 30 states are set to receive the $500 checks starting in October. Here's why.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there is no longer a risk of people getting sick with cyclosporiasis from this outbreak and is confident that all related iceberg lettuce is off the market.
Neither infant was old enough to be vaccinated. The first dose of the measles vaccine is typically given at around 1 year of age.
Amid a national blood supply crisis, Dr. Courtney Lawrence sat down with Norah O'Donnell to talk about donating blood, health myths and more.
The men, who were arrested in the South African city of Cape Town in 2021, are set to be handed over to officials from the FBI.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has personally pressed President Trump to take military action against the Iran-backed Houthis, sources tell CBS News.
Once shunned over its extremist roots, the Sweden Democrats could enter government for the first time as voters weigh immigration, crime and Sweden's political transformation.
One of the women told police that she took the job for the money and because "I was attracted by the fact I could go to Japan for free," Nippon TV reported.
The moves by the Houthis make it easier for the Iran-backed rebels to target ships transiting the crucial Bab el-Mandeb Strait for Saudi Arabian oil exports.
Hailing from Oklahoma City, roots-driven country band Jason Scott & The High Heat is on the rise. Headliner Jason Scott spent years training as a preacher until he experienced a crisis of faith, an experience that shaped his songwriting. The band's upcoming album "Playboy" captures their electrifying sound. Here's Jason Scott & The High Heat with "Fast As I Can Crawl."
Hailing from Oklahoma City, roots-driven country band Jason Scott & The High Heat is on the rise. Headliner Jason Scott spent years training as a preacher until he experienced a crisis of faith, an experience that shaped his songwriting. The band's upcoming album "Playboy" captures their electrifying sound. Here's Jason Scott & The High Heat with "When Love Tries To Hurt You."
Hailing from Oklahoma City, roots-driven country band Jason Scott & The High Heat is on the rise. Headliner Jason Scott spent years training as a preacher until he experienced a crisis of faith, an experience that shaped his songwriting. The band's upcoming album "Playboy" captures their electrifying sound. Here's Jason Scott & The High Heat with "Too Good, Too Bad."
The Metro Nashville Airport Authority board voted 6-0 on Friday to begin the process of changing the name and said a final name has not been chosen.
Dolly Parton's younger sister sat down with Gayle King for a conversation that included Dolly's makeup routine and her decades-long love affair with her husband Carl.
A number of tech insiders have voiced concerns and given dire warnings in recent days about the rapid growth of AI. CBS News' Jo Ling Kent and Maya Blackstone have more.
Some tech insiders are sounding the alarm on the dangers of artificial intelligence, which could be used to disable critical infrastructure or create biological weapons. Dr. Céline Gounder weighs in.
From labor shortages to environmental impacts, farmers are looking to AI to help revolutionize the agriculture industry. One California startup, Farm-ng, is tapping into the power of AI and robotics to perform a wide range of tasks, including seeding, weeding and harvesting.
Two tech insiders are sounding the alarm on artificial intelligence. Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon warns that AI could "kill us all," and now former Google DeepMind researcher Alex Turner warns that society is "just not prepared."
The development of AI "doesn't look that different from say, 'Terminator,' or from science fiction films," Jacob Coxon said.
Paleontologists have identified the first known trackway made by a full-grown Tyrannosaurus rex, and the discovery was made in the North Dakota badlands.
Ten research teams were honored at a satirical science awards ceremony that was hosted outside the U.S. for the first time due to travel concerns. A study of cockroach milk was among the winners.
Marmots, not bears, are the largest "true" hibernating mammal, UCLA marmot researchers Katie Adler and Emily Renkey say. The two share more fun facts about these cute creatures and explain how to vote for the fattest marmot.
NASA's new telescope could change the way we see space. With a wide-field camera that will reveal an area up to 200 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope, and an orbit a million miles from Earth, the Nancy Grace Roman telescope is expected to find tens of thousands of unknown exoplanets.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park told visitors Tuesday that invasive Joro spiders "may be hanging in a web near you."
Mississippi police have arrested a man in the death of Tasia Fortune, a Black woman found hanging from a tree last month.
25 years after 9/11, we rarely hear about the state of the organization responsible for the attacks. The Atlantic recently put out a piece on al-Qaeda that says in part, "analysts can't decide if the terrorist organization is all but defunct or more threatening than ever." The article's author, Graeme Wood, joins "The Takeout" to discuss.
The FBI is warning of potential attacks on 9/11 remembrance ceremonies as terrorist groups call for new strikes on U.S. soil. Anna Schecter has more.
The men, who were arrested in the South African city of Cape Town in 2021, are set to be handed over to officials from the FBI.
One of the women told police that she took the job for the money and because "I was attracted by the fact I could go to Japan for free," Nippon TV reported.
NASA's Roman Space Telescope launched shortly after daybreak from Kennedy Space Center and blazed toward an observation point 1 million miles away.
The $4.3 billion telescope is expected to discover tens of thousands of exoplanets while probing the nature of mysterious dark matter and energy.
President Trump plans to award the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the crew of NASA's Artemis II mission in a ceremony Aug. 28.
The mission to save NASA's sinking space telescope has been called off, dooming the telescope to a fiery reentry later this year.
A NASA spacecraft circling the moon is providing the sharpest views yet of the crater carved by a crashing SpaceX rocket.
A look back at the esteemed personalities who've left us this year, who'd touched us with their innovation, creativity and humanity.
Dolly Parton, the country music legend who became a feminist icon, has died at the age of 80. Here is a look back at her life in pictures.
Sylvie Cachay was found dead in an overflowing bathtub at the exclusive Soho House in New York City on Dec. 9, 2010. A water leak at the hotel gave away a timeline that may have revealed her killer.
Summer is the time to enjoy live music, indoors and out. Scroll through our gallery of some of 2026's leading musical acts, featuring images by CBS News photojournalist Jake Barlow and photographers Ed Spinelli and Kirstine Walton.
The Obama Presidential Center, museum and library opens in Chicago with a star-studded grand opening ceremony and public watch party on Midway Plaisance.
Hailing from Oklahoma City, roots-driven country band Jason Scott & The High Heat is on the rise. Headliner Jason Scott spent years training as a preacher until he experienced a crisis of faith, an experience that shaped his songwriting. The band's upcoming album "Playboy" captures their electrifying sound. Here's Jason Scott & The High Heat with "Fast As I Can Crawl."
Hailing from Oklahoma City, roots-driven country band Jason Scott & The High Heat is on the rise. Headliner Jason Scott spent years training as a preacher until he experienced a crisis of faith, an experience that shaped his songwriting. The band's upcoming album "Playboy" captures their electrifying sound. Here's Jason Scott & The High Heat with "When Love Tries To Hurt You."
Hailing from Oklahoma City, roots-driven country band Jason Scott & The High Heat is on the rise. Headliner Jason Scott spent years training as a preacher until he experienced a crisis of faith, an experience that shaped his songwriting. The band's upcoming album "Playboy" captures their electrifying sound. Here's Jason Scott & The High Heat with "Too Good, Too Bad."
Dolly Parton was known for her music, acting, glitz and glam – but there is more to the star that meets the eye. We celebrate Dolly's legacy and philanthropy and her alter-ego, "The Book Lady."
CBS News marks 25 years since the 9/11 terror attacks through powerful stories of survival, loss and resilience.