Solving Cold Cases with DNA

The purpose of these funds will be used for the Sheriff's-Coroners Department to work collaboratively with personnel of the Investigations Division, Property Evidence Bureau, Forensic Science Services and the Orange County District Attorney's Office to solve cold cases. Grant funding will allow this agency to fund overtime hours for three experienced investigators and two forensic scientists. The Homicide Sergeant will serve as the program manager for the grant period and will coordinate and supervise all project activities. The use of current DNA technology and the utilization of the 'team concept' to work unsolved cases have been proven to successfully solve 14 of the department's cold case homicides. Objectives include that by the end of Month 9 cases will be reviewed, analyzed and prioritized and by the end of Month 12, submission of new suspect DNA profiles will be uploaded into the national DNA database and submitted to the Orange County District Attorney's Office. At the end of the project period, the project manager will author a comprehensive evaluation of the project. This written evaluation will be provided to the captain of investigations division, the command staff of the Orange County Sheriff's Department and the funding agency to implement recommended changes to improve or enhance our ability to solve cold cases with DNA.
ca/ncf