Unsolved Shootings — Data, Code, and Methodologies

To gain a deeper understanding of America's unsolved-shootings crisis, The Trace and BuzzFeed News analyzed data from three historical FBI datasets, along with internal data obtained from 22 police departments. We also conducted a detailed analysis of Baltimore shooting victim and suspects. You can read about our main findings here:

• "Shoot Someone In A Major US City, And Odds Are You’ll Get Away With It" (January 24, 2019) — The Trace / BuzzFeed News
• "5 Things To Know About Cities’ Failure To Arrest Shooters" (January 24, 2019) — The Trace / BuzzFeed News

We have also published detailed data, code, and methodologies to support those findings:

Analysis of Police Department Data

We standardized and analyzed internal data from 22 municipal police departments to examine present-day trends in arrest rates.

• Methodology
• Data and code

Analysis of Baltimore Shooting Data

We analyzed victim and suspect data on nearly 3,500 fatal and non-fatal shootings in Baltimore.

• Methodology, data, and code

Analysis of FBI Data

We analyzed three major FBI datasets — the Supplementary Homicide Report, the National Incident-Based Reporting System, and Return A — to examine historical trends in unsolved shootings.

• Methodology
• Data and code

Questions?

For questions or feedback, please contact Jeremy Singer-Vine (jeremy.singer-vine@buzzfeed.com) and Sarah Ryley (sryley@thetrace.org).