Grant aims to help IMPD solve cold cases

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – As of Friday afternoon Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department detectives placed 13 reported homicides in Indianapolis on their board.

The majority of recent homicide cases do get solved within IMPD, thanks to their talented team of 22 detectives and forensic technology used to help put the pieces of a puzzle together. Closing cases posed a greater challenge before DNA profiling was introduced in 1984 causing many files to pile up in the 60s, 70s and early 80s.

Soon IMPD will open several cold cases to revisit them. Captain Craig Converse filed for a federal grant and recently received funds to hire two retired detectives that will be an extra set of eyes 40 hours a week.

There’s a lot of work that needs to be done at IMPD’s headquarters in downtown. They have three large rooms filled with boxes stacked from the floor to the ceiling.

“There is no statute of limitations on murder. We figure for every violent offender we get off the street we stop something else from happening down the road. Our clearance rate last year was 75 percent meaning we solved 3 in every 4 homicides last year. We want to help families receive closure and get criminals off the streets,” said Captain Craig Converse.

Anyone with information on a cold case should call 317-327-3477. Callers can also remain anonymous.