“An examination of District homicides found that the department’s closure rate is a statistical mishmash that makes things seem much better than they are. The District had 108 homicides last year, police records show. A 94 percent closure rate would mean that detectives solved 102 of them. But only 62 were solved as of year’s end, for a true closure rate of 57 percent, according to records reviewed by The Post.”-The Washington Post

Washington DC’s Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier claims her police department has a 94% solve rate for homicides in the country’s capitol.  The Washington Post investigated and found that to be a flat out lie!

The Washington Post also investigated the method the DC police use to claim their solve rate, and discovered that it’s used by police around the U.S. (it’s the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting)

Washington DC’s Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier backs that up: “The UCR guidelines have been used to report on clearance rates as long as anyone here can remember, and is not unique to my tenure as Chief of Police. Most agencies across the country use the same guidelines and rules in reporting homicide clearance rates.”

This means you can not trust your own local police in their claims of solving crimes!