The Impact of National Institute of Justice's Solving Cold Cases With DNA Program

• NCJ Number: 253103
• Date Published: July 2019
• Author(s): Chuck Heurich; Erin Kimmerle; Sally Wolter; Lou Eliopouls; Ted Hunt; Thomas McAndrew; Mitch Morrissey
• Length: 3 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Technical Assistance); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description; Instructional Material (Programmed); Grants and Funding

Annotation

In this 4-minute video, criminal justice practitioners from across the country comment on how the National Institute of Justice's (NIJ's) grant program called Solving Cold Cases with DNA has facilitated arrests and prosecutions in homicide cold cases.

Abstract

An introductory comment by a NIJ senior physical scientist emphasizes the importance of providing resources for cold-case units to engage in a regular review of unsolved homicide cases to determine whether contemporary DNA analysis techniques or databases make existing or new evidence more fruitful. NIJ's Solving Cold Cases with DNA Program has funded states and local governments in their efforts to identify, collect, evaluate, and analyze DNA evidence from cold cases, with priority given to cases involving violent crimes. The criminal justice practitioners who comment on the benefits of this NIJ grant program emphasize that localities and states often lack the resources to commit to cold-case investigations. One practitioner notes that the NIJ grant has helped fund DNA analysis and investigative travel for cold cases. Other practitioners speak of cold cases that would not have been cleared without the resources made possible by the NIJ grant.