Unsolved Crime

Unsolved Crime 

    According to the Insider, “in the last 10 years, some 26,000 murders in major US cities went without arrest.” Many people that commit crimes in cities get away with it and are never caught. This is a major problem, which can cause repetitive behaviors within criminals, leading to more dangerous outbreaks. The police aren’t always able to find the criminal or can’t hunt them down and arrest them. This is a major problem that needs to be fixed, and police are trying to find ways to lower this number. The amount of crime that is going uncaught has skyrocketed, so as a result police are trying to act on the issue themselves as well as alter the environment to reduce that number. 

    On February 25th 2019, A man was walking in Baltimore City from his work building to another for a meeting. On his way he was attacked. A man ran around a corner, up the street, and stabbed him in the back of the neck. The attacker dropped the knife and ran away; he was never caught. The man who was stabbed was fortunate enough to live but will never have the satisfaction of the criminal being caught. Imagine if that was your dad, husband, or friend. You would want the criminal to be caught so no one else ever has to go through that same thing. 

 

                       This picture from Pew Research Center shows the statistics of Unsolved Crime in the US

 

    The number of uncaught crimes have increased in the past few years because the police are unable to catch criminals. As the criminals realize that they aren’t going to be caught for crimes, they are likely to continue those same actions. They do this for one main reason: mistrust. As Vox News stated “when crimes go unpunished, people are likely to think that the police and criminal justice system aren’t taking acts very seriously, [therefore making] people distrust the police, which might lead to even more crime”.

 

    Since police are aware of this issue, they are trying to find ways to fix the mistrust. The police have realized that people will continue to commit the crimes that they can get away with, so they've begun ensuring ways that it won’t continue. Vox News found that “people tend to commit crimes thinking that they’ll get away with them, but if you change their notion that they can get away with crime, then [police] can make an impact.” So, police are beginning to be stricter on crimes that are repetitive to ensure the criminals understand that they will be caught the next time. 

 

    Security cameras/surveillance cameras are another way that police are trying to help solve crime. Most cities and areas have cameras, but not nearly as much as are needed. When areas don’t have many cameras, or any cameras at all, crime rates tend to be higher. Police will have a harder time trying to find the criminal when there aren’t as many cameras as possible to look back at. So, when people know that there aren’t many cameras, they will be more likely to commit a crime because they know the chances of getting caught are much lower. 

 

    Police have caught on to this concept and are beginning to increase the number of cameras in certain areas to lower the crime rate. In addition, Urban Institute believes that “technological advance will continue to enhance our ability to monitor public spaces [and] will continue to aid efforts to prevent crime and apprehend criminals.” Police aren’t always able to remember a subject’s face or characteristics, so cameras can help enhance the images to bet. Better reading of each criminal to make it easier to finish the case. 

 

 Photo from Campus Security and Life Safety shows an example of the implementation of cameras in communities

 

    However, cameras may not be an adequate fix to the problem. Surveillance cameras themselves can be a very helpful way in getting information about a subject. But, if the people using the cameras don’t understand how to use them correctly, then the implementation was a waste. If the cameras are not used by a trained staff to view the footage, then understanding the footage would be too difficult for the police comprehend. If the setup of cameras wasn't implemented by trained staff as well, then the use of the cameras will do no help for the police because the footage would not contain any useful information.

 

    It can also be argued that camera work in no way takes place for normal investigative police work. Many police believe that camera footage can hold the information needed to solve a case. However, video footage cannot hold all the information to the crime, it can only be an additional help to the investigation. Nothing can overpower old school police/detective work. Police hold the most information, and the most knowledge about the situation. The cameras can’t solve the crimes, but the policeman can. 

 

    Communities, as well as police within the communities need to keep trying to find ways to lower the amount of crime going uncaught. This crime can be very detrimental to areas, causing havoc within the community. It can also increase anxiety and leave the people in the high crime areas scared. These are the places that people live and work, and the increased crime going unsolved it detrimental. It must be put to a stop.

          

    These crimes continue to happen, but we keep wondering why is it still happening? Why can’t the police find a way to put an end to all the unsolved cases? Why won’t people just try to keep the peace? The questions are endless and seemingly repetitive. The police can’t be the only way to bring an end to this issue. People within the communities can help in their own ways and can help to update the police with any information that they know of. Any information that is given to them can help their cases. Help your community out today.