When violent crimes go unsolved, the impact is a ripple effect. Victims and families are left without answers. Communities lose confidence in the system meant to protect them. And the people responsible remain free to commit more harm.
Unfortunately, this is the reality of most crimes in Missouri.
New analysis of FBI data suggests that, based on the data available, only 38% of violent crimes reported to Missouri police in 2024 were solved (11,041 of 28,857 to be exact) – meaning nearly two-thirds of violent crimes went unsolved. That is lower than the already concerning national average of 44% in 2024. This should alarm all of us.
These are not abstract statistics. They represent thousands of Missouri families living with unanswered questions, unhealed trauma, and the fear that the person who harmed themselves or their loved one is still free to hurt someone else.
When people who commit violent crimes are not caught and held accountable, victims lack justice. People may take matters into their own hands, which often leads to retaliatory cycles of violence.
Missouri lawmakers have recognized this reality. In July 2025, the Missouri legislature and Republican Governor Mike Kehoe took an important bipartisan step to improve clearance rates (the rate of reported crimes that law enforcement solves). The new law strengthens public safety by creating a new violent crime clearance grant program and by improving statewide data reporting of unsolved violent crimes.
Under the program, law enforcement agencies can apply for funding to improve solve rates for violent crime. For example, police departments could add additional detectives, forensics personnel, victim-witness coordinators or obtain department-specific technical assistance. The new law complements Governor Kehoe’s Blue Shield program, which awarded state grants to 201 communities to support the purchase of law enforcement equipment and training in 2025.
Passing the Blue Shield program was an important step. But without any allocated funding, the law will make no difference to communities where violent crime goes unsolved. Now, the Missouri General Assembly has the opportunity to fully fund the program and to build on Governor Kehoe’s $10 million allocation for the Blue Shield Program in his FY 2027 budget.
Despite Missouri increasing spending on law enforcement by 12% from 2013 to 2023, the violent crime solve rate is 9% lower now than in 2014 – a troubling gap that shows increased spending is not enough without targeted investment in the tools and people who actually solve cases. Missouri’s combined focus on training and hiring investigators and crime analysts will help jurisdictions improve processes like generating leads and processing forensics.
This is not a partisan issue. Missouri has joined a growing number of states addressing the problem of low violent crime clearance rates to make our communities safer, honor victims, better support law enforcement, and reduce burdens on the criminal justice system. In the past year, several states—including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Tennessee, Utah, and Texas—have moved in the same direction because the evidence is clear: Solving violent crimes is one of the best ways to deter and prevent future crime.
I know some on both the political left and political right think that more police can lead to a “police surveillance state” where more people are locked up. But the truth is exactly the opposite. Don’t trust us on that fact. Instead, consider the work of two Harvard professors, Christopher Lewis and Adaner Usmani, who have written much about the the injustice of underpolicing. They concluded that more policing leads to better solve rates and actually decreases incarceration.
Republicans and Democrats can both agree that public safety is a core responsibility of government. Missouri’s leaders took an important first step by creating a program to solve more crimes. Now they should finish the job by fully funding it, so more crimes are solved, more offenders are held accountable, more Missourians can feel safe in their communities, and fewer people wind up in Missouri’s prisons.
Missouri cannot be truly safe while most violent crimes remain unsolved. We need to honor victims, better support law enforcement, and reduce burdens on the criminal justice system.
State leaders must take action to protect its residents so that Missouri can live up to its motto: The welfare of the people shall be the supreme law.
Eric Zahnd is the Prosecuting Attorney of Platte County, Missouri, which is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. First elected in 2002, he is the longest-serving prosecutor in Platte County history. Patrick Plein is the Director of the Nolan Center for Justice at CPAC – a national, conservative grassroots organization.
