A growing body of research examines factors that influence the likelihood of solving homicide cases. Much of this research emanates from North America and is based on quantitative analysis of police data. This article explores the views of homicide detectives, complemented by observations of investigations, in both Great Britain and the United States, regarding factors that affect the chances of solving homicides. Although we find some important differences between nations, the qualitative evidence suggests that the likelihood of solving even the most challenging homicide cases in both nations can be influenced by police agency at the individual and strategic level.
AddingtonL. A. (2006). Using national incident-based reporting system murder data to evaluate clearance predictors: A research note. Homicide Studies, 10, 140-152.
2.
AlderdenM.LaveryT. (2007). Predicting homicide clearances in Chicago: Investigating disparities in predictors across different types of homicide. Homicide Studies, 11, 115-132.
3.
AlexanderT. S.WellfordC. F. (2017). Solving homicides: Trends, causes, and ways to improve. In BrookmanF.MaguireE.MaguireM. (Eds.), The handbook of homicide (pp. 533-547). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
4.
BänzigerM.KilliasM. (2014). Unsolved homicides in Switzerland: Patterns and explanations. European Journal of Criminology, 11, 619-634.
5.
BorgM. J.ParkerK. (2001). Mobilizing law in urban areas: The social structure of homicide clearance rates. Law and Society Review, 35, 435-644.
6.
BragaA. A.TurchanB.BaraoL. (2018). The influence of investigative resources on homicide clearances. Journal of Quantitative Criminology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-018-9386-9.
7.
BrodeurJ. P. (2010). The policing web. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
8.
BrookmanF.InnesM. (2013). The problem of success: What is a “good” homicide investigation?Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy, 23, 292-310.
9.
BrookmanF.JonesH.PikeS. (2017). Homicide in Britain. In BrookmanF.MaguireE.MaguireM. (Eds.), The handbook of homicide (pp. 320-344). Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell.
10.
CarterD. L.CarterJ. G. (2016). Effective police homicide investigations: Evidence from seven cities with high clearance rates. Homicide Studies, 20, 150-176.
11.
CassellP.FowlesR. (2017). Still handcuffing the cops? A review of fifty years of empirical evidence of Miranda’s harmful effects on law enforcement. Boston University Law Review, 97, 685-848.
12.
ChaikenJ.GreenwoodP.PetersiliaJ. (1977). The Rand study of detectives. Policy Analysis, 3, 187-217.
13.
DaviesH. (2007). Understanding variations in murder clearance rates: The influence of the political environment. Homicide Studies, 11, 133-150.
14.
DeCarloA. (2016). A reason for reasonable doubt in social justice: The weight of poverty, race and gender in lopsided homicide case clearances outcomes. Contemporary Social Science, 11, 362-372.
15.
DeckerS. H. (1993). Exploring victim offender relationships in homicide: The role of individual and event characteristics. Justice Quarterly, 10, 585-612.
16.
EricsonR. V.ShearingC. (1986). The scientification of police work. In BöhmeG.StehrN. (Eds.), The knowledge society: The growing impact of scientific knowledge on social relations (pp. 129-159). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: D. Riedel.
17.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2014). Uniform crime reports 2013. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.
18.
FeistA.NewissG. (2001). Watching the detectives: Analysing hard-to-solve homicide investigations. London, England: Home Office.
19.
HawkS. R.DabneyD. A. (2014). Are all cases treated equal? Using Goffman’s frame analysis to understand how homicide detectives orient to their work. British Journal of Criminology, 54, 1129-1147.
20.
InnesM. (2003). Investigating murder: Detective work and the police response to criminal homicide. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
21.
InnesM. (2014). Signal crimes: Social reactions to crime, disorder and control. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
22.
JarvisJ. P.MancikA.RegoecziW. C. (2017). Police responses to violent crime: Reconsidering the mobilization of law. Criminal Justice Review, 42, 5-25.
23.
JiaoA. Y. (2007). Explaining homicide clearance: An analysis of Chicago homicide data, 1965-1995. Criminal Justice Studies, 20, 3-14.
24.
KeelT. G. (2008). Homicide investigations: Identifying best practices. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 77(2), 1-9.
25.
KeelT. G.JarvisJ. P.MuirheadY. E. (2009). An exploratory analysis of factors affecting homicide investigations. Homicide Studies, 13, 50-68.
26.
KingG.KeohaneR. O.VerbaS. (1994). Designing social inquiry: Scientific inference in qualitative research. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
27.
LeeC. (2005). The value of life in death: Multiple regression and event history analyses of homicide clearance in Los Angeles County. Journal of Criminal Justice, 33, 527-534.
28.
LeoR. A. (2008). Police interrogation and American justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
29.
LeoR. A.WhiteW. (1999). Adapting to Miranda: Modern interrogators’ strategies for dealing with the obstacles posed by Miranda. Minnesota Law Review, 84, 397-472.
30.
LitwinK. J. (2004). A multilevel, multivariate analysis of factors affecting homicide clearances. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 41, 327-351.
31.
LitwinK. J.XuY. (2007). The dynamic nature of homicide clearances: A multilevel model comparison of three time periods. Homicide Studies, 11, 94-114.
32.
MaguireE. R.KingW. R.JohnsonD.KatzC. M. (2010). Why homicide clearance rates decrease: Evidence from the Caribbean. Policing and Society, 20, 373-400.
33.
MarcheG. E. (1994). The production of homicide solutions: An empirical analysis. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 53, 385-401.
34.
MouzosJ.MullerD. (2001, October). Solvability factors of homicide in Australia: An exploratory analysis (Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminology, No. 216). Canberra, Australia: Australian Institute of Criminology.
35.
Murder Investigation Manual (MIM) (2006) Association of Chief Police Officers. Centrex: Bedfordshire, UK.
36.
NogalaD. (1995). The future role of technology in policing. In BrodeurJ.-P. (Ed.), Comparison in policing (pp. 191-210). Aldershot, UK: Avebury.
37.
Office for National Statistics. (2017). Homicide. In E. Wright (Ed.), Statistical bulletin: Focus on: Violent crime and sexual offences, Year ending March 2016 (pp. 37-62). London, England: Author.
38.
PuckettJ. L.LundmanR. J. (2003). Factors affecting homicide clearances: Multivariate analysis of a more complete conceptual framework. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 40, 171-193.
39.
QuinetK.NunnS. (2014). Establishing the victim–offender relationship of initially unsolved homicides: Partner, family, acquaintance, or stranger?Homicide Studies, 18, 271-297.
40.
RegoecziW. C.JarvisJ. P.RiedelM. (2008). Clearing murders: Is it about time?Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 45, 142-162.
41.
RegoecziW. C.KennedyL. W.SilvermanR. A. (2000). Uncleared homicide: A Canada/United States comparison. Homicide Studies, 4, 135-161.
42.
RiedelM.RinehartT. A. (1996). Murder clearances and missing data. Journal of Crime and Justice, 19, 83-102.
43.
RobertsA. (2007). Predictors of homicide clearance by arrest: An event history analysis of NIBRS incidents. Homicide Studies, 11, 82-93.
44.
RobertsA. (2014). Adjusting rates of homicide clearance by arrest for investigation difficulty: Modeling incident- and jurisdiction-level obstacles. Homicide Studies, 19, 273-300.
45.
RobertsA.LyonsC. (2011). Hispanic victims and homicide clearance by arrest. Homicide Studies, 15, 48-73.
46.
RockP. (1998). After homicide. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
47.
RydbergJ.PizarroJ. (2014). Victim lifestyle as a correlate of homicide clearance. Homicide Studies, 18, 342-362.
TrusslerT. (2010). Explaining the changing nature of homicide clearance in Canada. International Criminal Justice Review, 20, 366-383.
50.
TurnerR.KosaR. (2003). Cold case squads: Leaving no stone unturned. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Assistance.
51.
TylerT. (2004). Enhancing police legitimacy. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 593, 84-99.
52.
TylerT.HuoY. J. (2002). Trust in the law: Encouraging public cooperation with the police and courts. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
53.
VanVoorhisC. R. W.MorganB. L. (2007). Understanding power and rules of thumb for determining sample sizes. Tutorials in Quantitative Methods for Psychology, 3(2), 43-50.
54.
WellfordC.CroninJ. (1999). An analysis of variables affecting the clearance of homicides: A multistate study. Washington, DC: Justice Research and Statistics Association.
55.
WittC.TrusslerT. (2014). The impact of organizational factors on homicide clearance outcomes: Perspectives of homicide investigators. In Huff-CorzineL.MarshallH.BostonA. (Eds.), The changing landscape of homicide: Proceedings of the 2014 meeting of the homicide research working (pp. 19-25). San Antonio, TX: University of Central Florida.
56.
WolfgangM. (1958). Patterns in criminal homicide. Montclair, NJ: Patterson Smith.
