South Bend Mayor James Mueller is pushing back on calls to bring back the St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit.

Mueller compared homicide cases handled by the Metro unit from 2016 through 2021 with cases handled by South Bend police since 2021.

South Bend police investigated 88 homicides and cleared 80, a 91% clearance rate.

The Metro unit investigated 103 cases and cleared 56, or 54%. Mueller says those numbers show South Bend police are solving more homicide cases than the former countywide unit did.