Proposed Illinois legislation would shed light on homicide clearance rate
CHICAGO (CBS) -- For years, the CBS 2 Investigators have been poking holes in police clearance rates - in particular, so-called "exceptionally closed cases" that often leave families without the justice for which they are searching.
Two bills filed Tuesday are aimed at shedding some light on Illinois' cold cases. One of the two proposals is aimed at making clearance rates more transparent.
CBS 2 and CBS News exposed the issue in the series, "Crime Without Punishment." Cases are listed as cleared - not because they're necessarily solved, but because prosecutors declined to charge a suspect when there is not enough evidence, or because the wrong person was arrested for the crime.
Illinois state Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) said the proposed bill will require police departments to give families the numbers they really care about.
"The clearance rate metric is extremely opaque," Buckner said.
Illinois HB 4754, the Homicide Data Transparency Act, would require law enforcement agencies regularly to publish how many of their homicides resulted in arrests and charges – not to publish the confusing "exceptionally cleared" statistic that can mean a case is closed without answers.
In a conversation last week at the Economic Club of Chicago, Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling gave the black-and-white numbers.
"Right now, our clearance rate for homicides is at 74 percent," Snelling said. "These are cases where individuals have been arrested and charged."
But that 74 percent represents just the month of January – in which the Chicago Police solved 20 out of 26 homicide cases.
An examination of the clearance and arrest data obtained by the CBS 2 Investigators through the Freedom of Information Act over a longer span of time reveals a much different picture.
In 2022, the CPD's clearance rate was 37 percent but the arrest rate was 27 percent. In the first 10 months of 2023, the clearance rate was 22 percent - with an arrest rate of 17 percent.
"When you're a family member of someone who has been murdered, just hearing that your person's case was closed - and closed exceptionally without any real justice - is not enough," Buckner said.
Buckner knows what waiting for answers feelings like. He was just 9 years old when his uncle, Frankie Aldridge, was shot and killed in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood.
"I'll be 39 this year," he said, "and there are still no answers, no leads, no suspects in that case."
This is why Buckner also announced the filing of House Bill 4753 — the Homicide Victims' Families Rights Act. The act would allow families like his, with murder cases that have gone unsolved for three years or more, to submit a formal application requesting a re-review of their family member's case.
Some families have been waiting a long time. Alicia Schemel's father – Hinsdale boat operator Donald M. Schemel – was shot and killed in his truck on South Lumber Street near the South Branch of the Chicago River.
"It's been 8,491 days since my dad was killed, and his murder was still unsolved," Schemel said.
Valerie Burgest's son, Craig Williams, was 23 when he was shot and killed while walking in the 4500 block of South Indiana Avenue in Bronzeville in late December 2013.
"There has been no arrest made in my son's case," Burgest said. "There's been so suspects. There's been no investigation."
The Homicide Victims' Families Rights Act would require a family liaison officer to serve as a single point of contact.
Police departments would need to have a number of family liaison officers on staff proportionate to their homicide rate.