Summary
During the past few decades, the closure rate for homicides in the United States has decreased. To understand this trend, the COPS Office funded the Police Executive Research Forum to bring together practitioners and academics to discuss possible causes behind the decrease in clearance rates and to present promising practices and innovative strategies to address the issue. The result is Promoting Effective Homicide Investigations. The publication focuses on policy options, scientific protocols, and legal safeguards confronting law enforcement executives, as well as lessons learned from agencies that have implemented some of the practices highlighted. Law enforcement executives, administrators, investigators, and prosecutors will also learn about the latest developments in eyewitness identification, videotaped interrogations, DNA, cold case squads, crime analysis, and management and personnel policies.