HARRISBURG, Pa. — On Friday, Harrisburg police made an arrest in a Dec. 22 murder. It marked the 18th solved homicide case of the 22 total murders that happened in 2022.
That means that over the last year, Harrisburg police have solved 78% of the homicides which happened in the city in 2022.
For comparison, York police have closed 68% of their 2022 murder cases.
According to the latest FBI statistics available, the national average clearance rate in 2020 for these cases was 54%.
“When people talk, good things happen by way of prosecution," said Captain Terry Weland of the Harrisburg Bureau of Police.
The department credits much of its success to the community.
“We put the case up on CrimeWatch and what information we can, and people respond to it," said Weland. "That goes a long way toward solvability.”
But police realize there’s more work to be done. They are bringing in new technology to hopefully help prevent crime in 2023.
“It all gets factored into the equation and again brings forth successful prosecution in a lot of cases," said Weland.
Thanks to $3.3 million in grants, the department will be adding more cameras across the city and implementing new license plate scanners and shotspotter equipment
“We would put them in the areas where we’re having a lot of issues, where we have to track down the severity of the gunfire in some of the neighborhoods we’re having it," said Captain Atah Akakpo-Martin of the Harrisburg Bureau of Police.
They are all things Harrisburg police hope will decrease the amount of murders that happen this year, and increase the amount that are solved even more.
“With our ability to help close cases and provide people with closure, we hope to bridge the gap and make things better," said Akakpo-Martin.
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