Howard Saffold, president of the Afro-American Patrolmen’s League blames the police department, more than the criminal, for the current drop in clearance rates. Saffold puts it bluntly, “Racism is the basis of the low solution rate. No more than 13 per cent of the department’s detectives are black.” Saffold argues that since most serious crimes occur in the black police districts, most detective work must also be done in these districts.
