By Adam Allington, KWMU
St. Louis – St. Louis Police Chief Dan Isom says fewer murders are being solved in the city. Isom told the board of police commissioners on Wednesday that the decreasing rate of arrests mirrors the national trend. He said St. Louis is about 10 percent below the national average. "In '07 the FBI statistics said that the clearance rate nationwide was 59 percent," Isom said. "Our clearance rate for '07 was 50 percent."
Isom said the trend toward fewer arrests is the result of more drug and gang-related murders. In those cases, Isom said it's often difficult to find witnesses who are willing to testify.
The police department recently assigned more than 80 additional officers to street patrol, in part to help combat open-air drug markets.
Isom said reducing drug trafficking will lower the murder rate.