This application is submitted in order to facilitate the resolution of Unresolved crimes to include but not be limited to homicides and sexual assault.

The overall goal of the Worcester Police Department (WPD) is to review and identify cases of homicide and forcible rape that have the potential to be solved with DNA. Currently, they have 58 unresolved homicides and potentially 4,000 unresolved forcible rape cases; they propose to review all of these cases with the requested funds. WPD will achieve these goals by resourcing its Unresolved Homicide Unit and its Special Crimes Unit so that they may focus their efforts on a growing number of unsolved cases. Investigators will classify and prioritize cases, and will focus on cases that have biological evidence available for DNA analysis. They will coordinate with Worcester County District Attorney's office for investigative and prosecutorial potential of cases that have available biological evidence. They will conduct in-depth case reviews with their forensic personnel and consult with the State lab to determine the lab's capacity to analyze evidence and degraded samples.

ca/ncf