It’s not like CSI out there. Not at all. While there have been astounding advancements in forensic investigation techniques and devices, case closures have actually gone down. Here is a chart showing the decline.
Explanations differ. These are the most common given:
>Earlier numbers from the 60s and 70s were inflated, exaggerated, untrue.
>The decline is partially due to faulty FBI statistics, since reporting by police departments is voluntary, not mandatory.
>The increase cold case homicides is due to fewer police to do the job. George Floyd’s murder at the hands of law enforcement hastened a decline in police recruitment and retention already underway. Early retirements added to the strain. Some left for higher paying jobs. Others left feeling demoralized and undermined. Then there was the sheer burnout ignited by the pandemic which took a toll.
>The proliferation of gangs has made case closures harder. They will not turn on one another and they threaten witnesses, so cases drop through the cracks
>Case closures are highly tied to forensic labs which are understaffed and underfunded. When evidence sits around waiting to be analyzed, the case loses steam.
Regardless of the reason, the net result it hardship for the family awaiting answers. Justice isn’t denied them. But it is postponed.
At first glance this doesn’t seem so alarming. The number of full time law enforcement officers today is about what it was in 2008. But the U.S. population has grown from 305,695,000 in 2008 to 338,290,000 today. This translates into increased work loads.
So What is a Family To Do?
l) Network through homicide survivor groups (such as Parents of Murdered Children)
2) Set a schedule to call your assigned detective every month or two – stay polite.
3) Contact organizations to assist you such as this one: https://findmegroup.org/
4) Post on social media and ask your friends to do the same.
5) Consider hiring a private detective.
6) Reach out to appropriate podcasts to ask for an interview.
7) Hold a public vigil and invite the media, local search and rescue, clergy, law enforcement and so on.
8) Keep it alive in legacy media by keeping in touch with a reporter. The best way to do that is ask if they will agree to do a series or by linking it with another newsworthy item.
7) Do seek out other families in your shoes. If nothing else they can provide moral support.
For information on how artificial intelligence is helping solve decades-old cases, read this blog entry: https://jancantyphd.com/the-use-of-a-i-in-homicide-investigations/
