BRONX SUPREME COURT—Authorities cleared at least 68 percent of murder cases recorded in the Bronx in 2018—better than the national average and a bright spot in a year that saw borough-wide homicides increase 26 percent, Bronx Justice News has learned.
Of the 91 murders recorded in the Bronx last year, 62 have been cleared by arrest or other identification of the killer, or killers, according to data compiled by the Bronx District Attorney’s Office. The national homicide clearance rate, calculated using self-reported statistics from law enforcement agencies across the U.S., stands at about 60 percent, according to FBI data.
Authorities identified alleged perpetrators in roughly seven out of every ten Bronx homicides committed last year, even as deadly violence claimed the lives of more victims boroughwide than in 2017, when 72 murders were recorded, data shows. The 2017 murder total was the borough’s lowest since 1962, officials said.
The Bronx has about 1.5 million residents—making up roughly 17 percent of New York City’s population—but the borough experienced a disproportional 31 percent of the city’s 295 murders last year, records show.
Among the five boroughs, the Bronx had the highest rates of reported murder, rape, robbery, felonious assault, and burglary in 2017, data shows. More recent data for those categories was not immediately available.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.