Promoting Effective Homicide Investigations

In 2006, the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) hosted two conferences addressing violent crime: the “Promoting Effective Homicide Investigations” (May 25 and 26) and the “National Violent Crime Summit” (August 30). Both were instrumental in understanding violent crime in the United States, as well as national and local initiatives to reduce it. The primary goal of this document is to improve homicide investigations by exploring law enforcement agency practices and examining relatively new procedures that may lead to more effective investigations.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) report of 2005 crime data showed a 2.4 percent nationwide increase in homicides from 2004. The FBI’s preliminary numbers for 2006 indicate a continued upward trend in homicides in cities across the nation. For example, during the period 2004 to 2006, homicides increased by 38 percent in Cleveland. Other cities with significant increases in homicides in that period include Cincinnati (41 percent), Houston (37 percent), Las Vegas (16 percent), Memphis (39 percent), Newark, New Jersey (25 percent), Orlando (188 percent), Philadelphia (22 percent), and Seattle (25 percent).

In light of these increases, police agencies not only need to increase their efforts to prevent homicides and focus the public’s attention on the violent crime problem; they also need to adopt best practices increase the effectiveness of homicide investigations.

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http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/ric/Publications/promoting%20effective%20homicide%20investigations.pdf