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HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 8449 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. q44Q To the Mayor and Members of the City Council November 19, 2002 Subject: Cold Case Review Update Ian During the Pre-Council session on August 27,2002,Captain Richard Reflogal presented information regarding the Fort Worth Police Department's systematic review of 606 unsolved homicide cases dating back to 1967. The goal of this "Cold Case Effort" is to determine if new technologies or changing circumstances can provide additional information that will lead to the identification of the suspect(s). The purpose of this report is to respond to City Council's request for additional information and a plan to reduce the number of unsolved cases within two to three years. The Cold Case Effort is in addition to the Homicide Unit's current caseload,which is approximately twice the number of cases per detective in comparison to the Homicide units of Houston, San Antonio,Austin,and Oklahoma City. However,despite their greater caseload,Fort Worth Homicide detectives have achieved a clearance rate of 93.3% in 2002, as compared to an average 74.5% clearance rate for these same cities. Beginning on September 9,2002, in response to City Council's desire to expedite cold case review the police department's cold case investigative efforts intensified. It is now the full-time responsibility of two detectives to review all unsolved homicide cases and determine the potential solvability of each. Due to the department's increased efforts,the timeframe for reviewing the 606 cold cases will be approximately 10 months. This is a significant reduction from the review timeframe of six years that was reported on August 27. The initial projection of six years was based upon the estimated work product of one part-time reviewer. A case assessment process has been developed which results in each case being placed in one of three categories. The criteria for each category is as follows: Priority I cases: ■ Cases that contain evidence which has not been processed according to current forensic technology. ■ Cases with named suspect(s), but lacking in sufficient evidence to file the case. • Cases with witnesses that were not previously interviewed,or with witnesses that appeared to have withheld information during their initial interview. ■ Cases with new information from any source. • Based upon the experience of the reviewing investigator,those cases which appear to be the most solvable. Priority 2 cases: • Cases that do not meet the criteria outlined for a Priority 1, but contain sufficient leads or information to warrant an assignment to an investigator. • Cases with indications that the steps taken by the initial investigator need to be retraced. • Cases in which a different investigative approach might result in additional information. ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH,TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. $449 ` To the Mayor and Members of the City Council November 19, 2002 Page 2 of 2 �X Subject: Cold Case Review Update r� Priority 3 cases: • Cases with all known leads exhausted,no physical evidence,and no suspect(s) information. • Cases that have been thoroughly reinvestigated previously with no positive results. ■ Cases that were previously assigned to a task force and exhaustively investigated. Cases that are categorized as a Priority 1 or 2 are assigned to a detective for further investigation. Priority 3 cases are not assigned. The cold cases are being distributed among eight Homicide Unit and four Major Case Unit detectives. The detectives have 30 days to evaluate the information provided by the reviewing investigators, review the case file, and take appropriate investigative actions. The investigative results are then documented and reviewed by the Homicide supervisor. The supervisor determines whether further efforts are warranted. Currently 151 cold cases have been reviewed and assessed. Of this number, 36 cases were assigned to detectives for further investigation, resulting in I1 cases being solved. The current estimated timeframe for the reinvestigation of all Priority 1 and 2 cold cases is two years. When the review efforts for all unsolved cases have been completed, the process will begin again, with the Priority 1 cases being given first consideration. The Cold Case Effort will become a continuous process for the Fort Worth Police Department,and will ensure that an exhaustive attempt is made to solve each homicide case. Statistics pertaining to the number of cases rejected by the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office that the Homicide Unit determined to be worthy of prosecution were not previously kept by the department. In response to the Council's concerns, Homicide Lieutenant J. N. Dary has been instructed to collect this data for current and future cases. If you would like additional information, please don't hesitate to contact Assistant City Manager Libby Watson or Police Chief Ralph Mendoza. ary W. Ja on City Manager ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH,TEXAS