Crime detection in the USA and the Icelandic “bicycle whisperer”

According to a report by the US think tank, the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ), the successful homicide investigation rate in the US, 83.7% in 1964, dropped to 50% in 2022. The report shows that this decline, despite increasingly better crime detection technologies, may be due to better legal protection for defendants, weakened relations between the police and society, a more significant number of murders committed by people unknown to the victims, and a slower police response.

The analysis of official data shows that over 200,000 shoplifting cases in England and Wales have remained unsolved over the last year. Only 15% of over 362,000 cases ended with the suspect being charged or summoned to court. According to experts, organised shoplifting is among the most common crimes against small businesses. Representatives of the Liberal Democrat party add that “organised criminal gangs avoid responsibility while shop owners remain defenceless.”

An Icelandic “bicycle whisperer” in Reykjavik finds stolen bicycles and helps thieves change for the better. Since 2019, Bjartmar Leósson has already recovered hundreds of bikes. Perhaps because of his reputation, thieves often return them without hesitation, and some have even started helping him. “It’s like a little snowball that proliferates,” says Leósson, who also has other nicknames: “bicycle policeman”, “bicycle priest”, and “bicycle Jesus”. His Facebook group has over 14,500 thousand members who help each other.