Thread by @BuzzFeedNews

Only a fraction of shootings in US cities are ever solved. Our investigation with @teamtrace revealed overworked detectives are letting promising leads go cold while families wait in vain for justice.

buzzfeednews.com/article/sarahr…

@teamtrace In the cities we examined, homicides and assaults carried out with guns lead to arrests around half as often as the same crime with another weapon or physical force.

@teamtrace The odds of an arrest are even lower if the victims are people of color. When a black or Hispanic person is fatally shot, the likelihood that local detectives will catch the culprit is 35 percent — 18 percentage points less than when the victim is white.

@teamtrace The detectives tasked with solving these shootings in most cities are overburdened with cases. And some police departments are so understaffed that a large share of shootings receive only a cursory effort, or don’t get passed to a detective at all.

@teamtrace The overwhelming number of unsolved shootings means that violence goes unchecked in these already traumatized neighborhoods, which has consequences for everyone in the community.

buzzfeednews.com/article/sarahr…