Homicide Unit

ABOUT THE HOMICIDE UNIT

The homicide unit has 3 squads of 5 detectives who work night and day solving homicides in Seattle.

When a homicide occurs, Homicide and CSI Unit detectives are summoned to the scene. The homicide detective work in tandem with the CSI detectives to thoroughly work the crime scene from all angles. The creation of the CSI Unit, with their state of the art equipment and ability to process the evidence at crime scenes, has allowed homicide detectives to concentrate on interviewing witnesses, victims and potential suspects of these very serious crimes. The teamwork of these two units is paramount to solving many of these cases.

The Homicide Unit has on average an 80% solve rate with several additional cases being solved each year by the cold case unit and relentless follow up by detectives on all open cases.

THE COLD CASE TEAM

At the Seattle Police Department, cold cases are defined as unsolved cases between 1969 and 1999. Unsolved cases become cold cases when the assigned detective of the case retires, which usually is about 15 to 20 years later. In addition, the cases are prioritized in the order of possible suspects, collected DNA and available witnesses.

The department initiated the Cold Case Unit and dedicated two full-time detectives in solving cold cases in 2000.The unit began with a total of 300 cold cases, and has since solved the over 25 cold case homicides. The Seattle Police Cold Case team was one of the first agencies to begin using the Washington State Crime Lab for testing DNA in cold cases.

Before 2000, many of the cold cases that now result in convictions would have remained unsolved. Recent advances in DNA techology has greatly contributed to the amount of cold cases that can now be solved. With the aid of DNA technology and DNA databases, some of the investigative process the detectives use include cross-checking references against other cases, reviewing cases by talking to family members, following-up on new leads, and talking to witnesses or accomplices who, as they age and their lifestyle changes, are more willing to come forward.