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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 5, 2022

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American police more effective

Here is a study that suggests the US has among the lowest homicide resolution rates among the first-world countries at 65%, well behind Italy which went from 67% to 78%, though obviously there is a wall of confounders (some of which the referenced paper discusses itself).

By police, I don't mean investigators. homicides are not solved by police, at least not in America.

Then how your comment is relevant, because the statistics shown in the figure counts investigators (who are sworn officers, not civilians?)

Sanity check from a different source:

https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2018/crime-in-the-u.s.-2018/tables/table-74> 686,665 full time officers in 2018 -> 210 per 100,000, almost exactly the same number as in the linked paper graphs. Even if one included civilians, the US would be massive outlier, and according to data description, one ought not to, because:

The UCR Program defines law enforcement officers as individuals who ordinarily carry a firearm and a badge, have full arrest powers, and are paid from governmental funds set aside specifically to pay sworn law enforcement.

Civilian employees include full-time agency personnel such as clerks, radio dispatchers, meter attendants, stenographers, jailers, correctional officers, and mechanics.