Can YOU spot a serial killer? The online 'murder accountability' algorithm that lets anyone analyse crime trends
- Group has gathered information on 638,454 homicides from 1984-2014
- The open-source website uses data from federal, state, and local governments.
- You can find cases based on geography, the type of victim, method of killing, etc
- And, it can be used to spot possible connections between unsolved cases
A non-profit group in the US is keeping tabs on unsolved murders across the country – and their software can spot unnoticed trends to reveal a possible serial killer.
Known as the Murder Accountability Project, the open-source website uses data from federal, state, and local governments.
They’ve so far compiled details on more than 600,000 homicides, and as it’s available for free online, anyone can access the data to look for connections in unsolved cases.
![A non-profit group in the US is keeping tabs on unsolved murders across the country ¿ and their software can spot unnoticed trends to reveal a possible serial killer. Known as the Murder Accountability Project , it uses data from federal, state, and local governments. Stock image](http://web.archive.org./web/20170209075203/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/02/08/22/2D8F8D0300000578-4205814-image-a-50_1486594302361.jpg)
A non-profit group in the US is keeping tabs on unsolved murders across the country – and their software can spot unnoticed trends to reveal a possible serial killer. Known as the Murder Accountability Project , it uses data from federal, state, and local governments. Stock image
Founded by retired news reporter Thomas K Hargrove, the group is working to make sure the thousands of unsolved homicides in the US each year are accounted for.
'America does a poor job tracking and accounting for its unsolved homicides,' the organisation says on its website.
'Every year, at least 5,000 killers get away with murder.
'The rate at which police clear homicides through arrest has declined over the years until, today, about a third go unsolved.
'As a result, more than 222,000 Americans have perished in unsolved homicides committed since 1980 — more than the combined death toll of all U.S. military actions since World War II.'
The easy to use tool allows people to look at trends among these cases.
‘Homicide investigators may find this site useful in testing theories about murders in their community,’ the site explains.
‘The Supplementary Homicide Report data available at the ‘Search Cases’ tab is especially useful to test theories about suspects who may have killed across multiple jurisdictions or within the same jurisdiction over a period of time.’
![The Murder Accountability Project was founded by retired news reporter Thomas K Hargrove](http://web.archive.org./web/20170209075203/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/02/08/22/3CF959B500000578-0-image-a-49_1486594233204.jpg)
The Murder Accountability Project was founded by retired news reporter Thomas K Hargrove
Through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, the group has gathered information on 638,454 homicides – including 23,219 that hadn’t been reported to the FBI – from 1980 through 2014, Bloomberg reports.
Hargrove, formerly an E.W. Scripps journalist, began working on the algorithm in 2008, working with a Supplementary Homicide Report found in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report.
At first, he tried to create a system that would spot commonalities between unsolved cases to suggest the same murderer.
Then, he tried another tactic – reverse-engineering the algorithm, using the well-known case of Gary Ridgway, the ‘Green River Killer.’
The killer has confessed to murdering 48 women in the Seattle area over a period of roughly 20 years, according to Bloomberg.
After trying out a number of options for a cluster analysis, the researcher settled on geography, sex, age group, and method of killing.
![After trying out a number of options for a cluster analysis, the researcher settled on geography, sex, age group, and method of killing. Results of the Green River Killer are shown. The bar chart on the left reveals two-thirds of cases were unsolved, the site explains](http://web.archive.org./web/20170209075203/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/02/08/22/3CF959BD00000578-4205814-image-a-51_1486594325422.jpg)
After trying out a number of options for a cluster analysis, the researcher settled on geography, sex, age group, and method of killing. Results of the Green River Killer are shown. The bar chart on the left reveals two-thirds of cases were unsolved, the site explains
And, the algorithm pulled up the Green River Killer.
It also revealed 77 unsolved murders in Los Angeles and 64 unsolved murders of women in Phoenix.
The LA cases, he learned, were linked to several killers police were pursuing, including the ‘Southside Slayer’ and the ‘Grim Sleeper,’ Bloomberg reports.
Now, years later, the effort has blossomed into the Murder Accountability Project, a tool that can essentially ‘crowdsource murder.’
‘America does a poor job tracking and accounting for its unsolved homicides,’ the site explains.
‘Every year, at least 5,000 killers get away with murder.
'The rate at which police clear homicides through arrest has declined over the years until, today, about a third go unsolved.’
The site can be used by both police and the public, and includes two major FBI datasets: the Uniform Crime Report from 1965 to the present, and the Supplementary Homicide Report from 1976 to the present.
With this, you can search historical cases, or find cases based on geography, the type of victim, method of killing, and the timeframe of killing.
![The site can be used by both police and the public, and includes two major FBI datasets: the Uniform Crime Report from 1965 to the present, and the Supplementary Homicide Report from 1976 to the present](http://web.archive.org./web/20170209075203/http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/02/08/22/3CF959B900000578-4205814-image-a-52_1486594329252.jpg)
The site can be used by both police and the public, and includes two major FBI datasets: the Uniform Crime Report from 1965 to the present, and the Supplementary Homicide Report from 1976 to the present
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