Scholarly study of the factors affecting homicide clearances is at the same point as scholarly study of police patrol officers more than 50 years ago. In particular, major organizing frameworks provide fundamentally contradictory images, and only a handful of multivariate studies exist. The present research partially remedies these problems by advancing a more complete conceptual framework and then by using that framework to guide multivariate analysis of the factors affecting the clearance of 802 homicides in Columbus, Ohio, between 1984 and 1992. Consistent with the more complete conceptual framework, there is strong support for the argument that the visibility of homicide and the singular importance of homicide clearances cause homicide detectives to work aggressively to clear all homicides irrespective of where they occur or the characteristics of homicide victims. Also consistent with the framework, the authors find no support for previous arguments that detective experience and workload affect homicide clearances.
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