The Badger Project: Homicide clearance rate in Wisconsin ranks near top in nation

The homicide clearance rate in Wisconsin is one of the highest in the country, according to a national nonprofit which tracks the data.

About 72 percent of homicides committed in Wisconsin over the last decade were “cleared” — usually meaning law enforcement filed charges in the case — according to the Murder Accountability Project. That does not mean a conviction was won.

Wisconsin’s murder clearance rate is the eleventh best in the country in that time, according to an analysis of the data by The Badger Project.

The FBI released its annual Uniform Crime Report for 2020 on Monday. Like many states, Wisconsin saw a big increase in homicides in the tumultuous pandemic year of 2020 — from 177 in 2019 way up to 303.

From 2011-2020, the five states with the highest rates of clearing homicides are, starting at the top: Maine, North Dakota, Alaska, South Dakota and Wyoming. The states with the worst rates are, starting at the bottom: Michigan, Rhode Island, Ohio, Indiana, and Massachusetts.

Law enforcement documented more than 1,900 homicides in Wisconsin from 2011-2020, according to the Murder Accountability Project. Nearly 1,400 of those homicides were cleared. That puts Wisconsin’s clearance rate as the fourth-best in states with over 1,000 murders in that time period. In that cohort, only Minnesota, Nevada and North Carolina have higher rates at 73, 73.5 and 76 percent, respectively…