evidence: Homicides in Milwaukee are down nearly 50 percent this year compared to two years ago and 23 percent lower than the same time last year. [...] Milwaukee broke its homicide record three years in a row, from 2020 to 2022. Law enforcement experts have pointed to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing number of guns on the street as possible reasons for the spike. [...] The city’s homicide clearance rate, or the number of homicides solved by the Milwaukee Police Department, is at 83 percent. That number has dipped below 50 percent in prior years.