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September 5, 2008 9:53:20 PM CDT

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Cops Closing Doors on Cold Cases

Posted Feb 3, 08 11:15 AM CST in Crime & Courts,  US 

(Newser) – Amid shrinking budgets and shifts in focus, US police departments are downsizing their cold-case divisions, USA Today reports. Federal funding for the units dropped 40% in 2007, and departments are reducing the hours devoted to long-unsolved cases—and even eliminating the positions entirely. Experts in the field worry that such measures leave murderers to roam free.

Some 60% of US murders go unsolved, a former cop says—translating to thousands per year nationally—and “the people doing the murders didn't go away. If they did, they're victimizing another community.” The cases don’t go away, either. Orange County, Fla., for example, has 280 of them. “I’ve never even had a chance to look at all the cases,” one officer said.

Source USA Today

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