COLD CASE SOLVABILITY FACTORS
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Authors
Anderson, Alden L.
Issue Date
2007
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Solving crimes, especially homicides, is of optimal importance in society today. The intentions of this thesis were to determine what factors play a role in solving cold cases, and keep them from getting solved. There are many factors which are utilized by law enforcement to solve cold cases, some more commonly utilized than others. Data and statistics were accumulated from ten cold case squads to determine if there were significant trends regarding factors used to solve crimes. A statistical analysis was conducted, using the data culled from the cold case squads. The data rejected hypotheses 1 and 2, and hypothesis 3 was found to be inconclusive due to a lack of information. DNA is important for solving cold cases, but not as important as traditional police work, including the gathering of credible information. Another focus of this study determined that forensic science misconduct is a reason why cases stay cold.