SUBJECT/RECOMMENDATION:
Title
Approve acceptance of U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Grant Award in the amount of $30,671 for funding for Clearwater Police Department's (CPD) Cold Case Team Project and authorize the appropriate officials to execute same. (consent)
Body
SUMMARY:
On May 7, 2014, CPD was granted approval by the Resource Management Committee to submit a grant application for funding of the department's Cold Case Team Project. The grant has been officially awarded and CPD now seeks approval to accept it.
CPD currently has a total of 20 cold homicide cases that have the potential for being solved with DNA evidence. These cases reach as far back as 1968 and extend forward to 2008. The families and victims are still awaiting justice and closure.
Like most other law enforcement agencies with numerous unsolved cases, CPD is operating under staff shortages, budgetary restrictions and heavy caseloads leaving neither the time nor resources available to identify, review and prioritize violent crime cold cases that have the potential to be solved using DNA analysis. As a result, cold cases are unable to be pursued as vigorously as desired.
Unwilling to give up on cold cases entirely, CPD created a Cold Case Unit in January 2012, consisting of members of the department's Homicide Unit and a retired law enforcement officer who volunteers his time to assist in working cold cases. The Cold Case Unit has had astonishing success in the short time that it has been operational, solving five cold cases in less than two years.
The grant funding in the amount of $30,671 from NIJ will allow CPD to enhance its existing Cold Case Unit and solve even more cases with additional overtime/fringe benefits for case and evidence review. The funding for overtime will allow the Unit to devote the additional time necessary for cold cases while still attending to more recent crimes. The grant will also fund the cost of investigative travel that may be required to follow up on leads, interview witnesses and/or suspects. Pinellas County Forensic Laboratory will analyze all biological evidence submitted by CPD, interpret the DNA results and submit the DNA profiles that meet the necessary criteria for possible upload into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database, all at no cost to CPD.
There will be no additional FTE's or match associated with this grant.
Special project number 181-99209, Clearwater Cold Case Team Project 2014, will be established to account for the grant expenditures.
APPROPRIATION CODE AND AMOUNT:
There will be no additional FTE's or match associated with this grant.
Special project number 181-99209, Clearwater Cold Case Team Project 2014, will be established to account for the grant expenditures.
USE OF RESERVE FUNDS: N/A