Police fail to solve 87% of violent crimes in Akron, 2022 report finds

Editor's note: A previous version of this story noted that the Akron Police Department couldn't be reached after multiple attempts to make contact. The Beacon Journal was able to get comments from a sergeant there Tuesday.

Seven in 10 violent crimes reported to police departments across the state in 2022 went unsolved, ranking Ohio the third worst state in the country, according to a new study released by the Council of State Governments Justice Center.

Researchers examined data from the FBI's Uniformed Crime Reporting Program for a nationwide and state by state look at whether law enforcement is making arrests in violent crimes. Ohio ranked third, behind Florida and New Mexico, for unsolved violent crimes.

In Ohio, the violent crime rate is 23% below the national average and the rate of violent crime reports declined 3% over the past decade. But cops aren't making arrests in most of the cases.

The CSG Justice Center report found that 58% of the 718 homicides, 65% of the 21,857 aggravated assaults, 79% of the 6,243 robberies and 86% of the 5,692 rapes reported in Ohio in 2022 were unsolved.

Failure to deliver justice erodes public confidence and sends a message that the system is not equipped to protect the public, CSG Justice Center said.

There is no simple answer about why unsolved violent crimes are increasing, said Madeleine Dardeau, CSG's deputy policy director for state initiatives.

"Agencies have had success in solving more violent crime by building community relationships and trust, implementing investigative best practices, improving crime analysis, and increasing victim-witness supports," she said. "For example, Omaha saw large improvements in their solve rates for homicides through a comprehensive, community-driven violence reduction effort that strengthened community and law enforcement relationships."

Fraternal Order of Police Ohio President Jay McDonald said police departments need to hire more staff and deploy more tech tools such as license plate readers. And the courts need to keep people accused of violent crimes in jail and give appropriate post-conviction sentences, he said.

Ohio police have worked to drive down crime rates, said McDonald, who is also Marion police chief. "The FOP of Ohio believes our officers should be commended for their efforts but there is still work to do make Ohio safer for all of our citizens."

What's going on with the crime rate?

Crime is at the top of mind for many people. More than six in 10 people say crime in the U.S. is an extremely or very serious problem, according to a Gallup Poll survey released in January.

But long-term, the violent crime rate has fallen significantly from 758 crimes per 100,000 people in 1992 to 381 per 100,000 people in 2022.

More recently, the numbers have been a mixed bag. FBI stats released in October show a 1.7% decline in violent crime in 2022 over 2021 across the nation. The number of murders and rapes declined, 6.1% and 5.4%, respectively, but there were slight increases in assaults and robberies.

The 2022 crime rate in Ohio is virtually unchanged from 2019.

Ohio departments with the highest unsolved rates

Akron and Cleveland police departments each had an 87% unsolved rate and Columbus police had an 85% unsolved rate in 2022.

Excluding agencies that had fewer than 500 violent crime reports, here is a rundown of the 2022 unsolved rates for other large police departments in Ohio:

• Toledo, 70%
• Cincinnati, 51%
• Dayton, 64%
• Canton, 66%
• Springfield, 82%

Akron police 'concerned' by high violent crime unsolved rates

While he is concerned by hearing about the Akron Police Department's high rate of unsolved crimes from 2022, Sgt. Mike Murphy noted that there are certain factors that attribute to this high number.

"The availability of witnesses is a major factor; we want to determine if not only did anyone see the crime itself, but are there witnesses that are willing to participate in the investigation and cooperate with us, because there are multiple stages," Murphy said.

Potential witnesses may be unwilling to speak with a detective due to a fear of retaliation, particularly when it comes to violent crimes, Murphy said.

"We've seen people who want to help us out and wanted to participate become victims themselves too, so then that perpetuates a scenario in which people are afraid to work with us, and that hurts what we're trying to do," Murphy said.

Akron police are working to consistently lower the rates of unsolved violent crimes, and he would hope the numbers have improved in 2023 and moving forward.

"We've made a lot of advances in terms of technology we use to help us solve crimes, including the FLOCK camera system, which has been a great asset to us and has helped us get leads on different crimes," Murphy said. "Solving these violent cases is something we are committed to."

Find the violent crime unsolved rate in your area

Akron Beacon Journal reporter Anthony Thompson contributed to this report. Laura A. Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio .

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Police fail to solve 87% of violent crimes in Akron, 2022 report finds