Download - Conduct of Reinvestigation of Cold Cases

8/11/2019 Conduct of Reinvestigation of Cold Cases

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Strengthening Case Evidence and Case Filing throughReinvestigation of Cold Cases: A Priority Program of the

PNP

I. Background

The Philippine National Police defined Cold Case as a case at handthat has not been cleared or solved and which probative investigativeleads have been exhausted, however, yielded negative result orprogress for six (6) months.

Cold cases are rarely reinvestigated as the limited capacity of theinvestigation service is devoted to investigating newly committedcrimes. At present, a considerable portion of the budget for the PNP isallocated to the investigation of new crimes and only a small part of thisbudget is allocated for the conduct of review of cold cases. Of these

numerous cold cases, only the sensationalized crimes are givenattention. Hence, it is not surprising that the number of cold casescontinue to rise through the years.

II. Purpose

Neglect of cold cases hinders the PNP in attaining the Peace andOrder of our society for two main reasons;

One is that it will aggravate the low trust and confidence of thecommunity on the ability of the PNP. Piling up of unsolved cases

affirms the communitys perception towards PNP that it is eitherneglectful or incompetent in solving crimes. Consequently, thewillingness of the populace to cooperate with the PNP, as lawenforcers, will also be affected negatively.

Another is that it will escalate social danger. The reality is thatcriminals do not usually commit crimes only once. As long as they areat large, they will proliferate commission of crimes. If one has to thinkabout it, a criminal who committed murder in 2011 who was not caughtstill enjoys liberty and roams around amongst the law-abiding citizenspossibly seeking for his/her next victim. This situation may be

reversed, if the criminals who committed offenses even years beforeare identified or caught. The best deterrent against crime is thecertainty of arrest and conviction of criminals.

The fact remains that the conduct of reinvestigation of cold casescost much more than the investigation of newly committed crimes notonly in terms of money but also of time and effort. However one has to


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believe that there will be a return of investmentsthat is theattainment of peace and order in the society.

III. Details

At present, the total strength of Investigators of the PNP is 11,232. This number of investigators is projected to be capable ofhandling 44, 928 with 4 cases per Investigator. That means 8% of thetotal number of cold cases from 2010 to 2013 will be reinvestigatedprovided that the appropriate fund is available. (Please see attachedPer Capita Cost).

The activities under the Conduct or Reinvestigation of Cold caseare the following:

a. Performance audit on cases reviewed and investigated;

b. Policies evaluation and formulation;c. Training of investigators for cold case investigation; andd. Applications/Conduct of Forensic Examination.

These activities will be measured by the correspondingPerformance Indicators:

a. No. of cases investigated;b. No. of cases reviewed;c. No. of policies reviewed and no. of trainings conducted; andd. No. of examinations conducted.

Of these corresponding performance indicators, the over-all gaugeof the success of the program is the increase in crime clearance andcrime solution efficiency related to cold cases.

Aside from the success presented through numbers the change ofthe perception of the people towards the PNP is more important. Oncea cold case is solved or cleared, that is one more citizen having arenewed trust in the PNP. As the leaders in the DIDM would alwayssay once that citizen becomes victim of crime, especially if it involvesthe loss of life of a loved one, the police officer who investigates, who

builds up the case, identifies the suspect, arrests him, and ensures hisconviction in court, becomes the guardian angel of that victim of crime.He will forever be enshrined into the heart and mind of that gratefulfamily of the victim.

What should not be forgotten is that it is important that the victimsof cold cases and their families know that they are not forgotten . It isvital that we keep in mind that we are here to serve the community,


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these cold cases are not just mere numerical statistics but real peoplelike ourselves.


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Strengthening Case Evidence andCase Filing through Reinvestigation

of Cold Cases:

A Priority Program of the PNP

For FY 2015