A study by the U.S. Department of Justice found that people convicted of murder and released from state prisons in 2016 had served an average of 15 years and a median of 13 years. These figures apply only to people who are arrested, convicted, and jailed, which has shrunk significantly over the past 60 years. The portion of murders in which a suspect is identified and acted upon by the criminal justice system declined from 92% in 1960 to 54% in 2020.