Webinar, Community Cooperation and Homicide Clearance: New Evidence from Chicago and Implications for Policy

The nation’s homicide clearance rate has been declining since the 1960s, and though rates are different in different places, in many American cities law enforcement still struggles to solve more than half of all homicides. Further compounding this challenge, communities that bear the most disproportionate burden of firearms violence may see even lower clearance rates.

In this webinar from the Joyce Foundation, Dr. Kathryn Bocanegra will discuss findings from a newly published peer-reviewed study that explores the relationship between police effectiveness – both real and perceived – and community members’ willingness to cooperate with police in homicide investigations. The study draws on original survey data from five Chicago neighborhoods with high homicide rates and varying clearance rates. It examines how these factors influence two key forms of cooperation: (1) calling the police after witnessing a homicide, and (2) providing information about a homicide suspect.

The study also contributes to ongoing discussions about police legitimacy by offering empirical evidence on how trust and efficacy intersect in racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods disproportionately impacted by violence.

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