California Police Chief- Fall 2013 CPCA_2018_Winter Magazine-FINAL | Page 21

THE ORGANIZATIONAL VALUE OF SOLVING COLD CASES
Rewards Extend Well Beyond Bringing Justice to
Victims and their Families
By Assistant Chief Bill Clark, Monterey Police Department
Collaboration is key. Members of PRVNT, the Monterey County DA’s Office, the FBI, CA DOJ and the Peninsula Cold Case
Project (PCCP) receive the 2018 CPOA Outstanding Cold Case award for closing the highly publicized 1998 kidnapping, rape
and murder of 13-year-old Christina Williams in Monterey County. The PCCP is a multi-agency team that was created in 2005
and is dedicated to solving cold cases on the Monterey Peninsula.
Nowhere is strong leadership more important than when it is required to ensure that justice is carried out in the continued investigation of major cold
case crimes. Too often these unsolved investigations are left alone, boxed and put on a shelf. Rarely, if ever in some agencies, are they reviewed or re-
investigated with any detail, or in a defined and systematic process. The investigation and potential closure of these cases is core to the mission of law
enforcement agencies entrusted with this duty. It also provides many positive and lasting benefits, both internally and externally, to the agencies and the
leaders that commit themselves to this goal.
Agencies that make a real commitment to the investi-
gation and resolution of cold cases will reap rewards in the
following areas, on multiple levels:
• BUILDING COMMUNITY TRUST – When the community knows
that an agency has not given up on a particularly
difficult case, it will have a lasting effect on how
citizens view their law enforcement agency. Resolving
these types of cases, especially when people believe
that the case has been forgotten, shows the community
that their police department does not forget, they will
not give up.
• INCREASING ORGANIZATIONAL PRIDE – Major crimes that take
place in each jurisdiction can have lasting impacts on
an agency. When a particularly violent or high-profile
crime goes cold for some time, but is then closed after
an extensive follow-up investigation, the organization
responsible for resolving the case will take pride in that
accomplishment, as will the individual investigators
involved. The closure of these types of cases often
results in extensive media coverage and presents law
enforcement in a positive light.
• STRENGTHENING INVESTIGATIVE EXPERTISE – Investigating cold
cases requires tenacity. It also requires, and develops,
skill and expertise. Cold cases are often difficult to sort
through, and the commitment by agency leadership
to pursue cold case investigation raises the bar not
WINTER 2018 | California Police Chief
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