How accurate is fingerprint matching, according to the studies
A 2011 double-blind test of more than 169 examiners put numbers on a method courts had relied on for a century — and the numbers cut both ways.
Crime
Crime coverage from Daily Detective News.
Why single-cause explanations of the crime drop rarely survive scrutiny
Per FBI published data, murder fell roughly 12 percent in 2023 and about 14 percent more in 2024 — and no single policy, policing change, or economic factor accounts for a decline that size across the whole country.
What clearance data shows about homicide cases going cold
Per FBI published data, roughly half of recent homicides were never cleared, and the cases that go unsolved cluster by victim, by place, and by a detective's first days on the file.
How hate crime counts are collected, and why underreporting persists
The FBI's hate crime numbers are a voluntary patchwork: per the 2023 release, more than 11,800 incidents were reported — while hundreds of agencies, including entire state systems, submitted nothing at all.
What recidivism rates measure, and what the number misses
A recidivism rate is only as specific as its definition: per BJS's landmark studies, about 68 percent of released prisoners were arrested within three years — but arrests, convictions, and re-imprisonment tell three different stories.
How seasonal patterns show up in crime data, and which ones hold
Decades of FBI records show violence and most property crime rising in summer and falling in winter — a pattern stable enough that analysts adjust for it before declaring any trend.