Officers from different law enforcement agencies in the state converged on Russellville on Monday to learn what more they can be doing to solve those unsolved crimes in their departments that are known as cold cases.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office sponsored the day-long seminar for over 60 officers from Birmingham and across North Alabama.
“There are so many unsolved cases across the nation and several right here that we just wanted to do our part to give these officers and investigators some tools and ideas that might help them get some of these cases solved,” Franklin County Sheriff Shannon Oliver said.
“The people out there who are still waiting for justice for their loved ones deserve to have some answers.”
The seminar featured cold case expert and forensics instructor James Adcock, who currently teaches at Clayton State University in McDonough, Ga., and works with the Center for the Resolution of Unresolved Crime.
“There are over 185,000 unsolved murders in the country and that means there are a lot of family members and friends who are still searching for answers,” Adcock said. “That reason alone makes the issue of cold cases so important.”
Adcock, who has authored two books on the subject of cold cases, said one of the main issues with cracking cold cases is that many departments, especially in smaller areas like Russellville and the surrounding counties, don’t have the funding or the manpower to devote their time solely to solving these types of cases.
“Larger departments can devote entire units to working on cold cases but 60 to 70 percent of the departments in the country are smaller and don’t have this capability because they have less staff and less money,” Adcock said.
“Having a seminar that teaches officers different techniques and allows them to get new ideas is crucial. They might see how another department does something and that might give them an idea for how to handle a similar case they might have in their department.”
Adcock said the seminar covered things such as concepts and ideas, victimology and how getting to know the victim could lead to a better understanding of the perpetrator, risk factors, and physical evidence aspects.
“This was a great seminar for our officers,” Olive said. “We hope the other officers gained some valuable knowledge that will help them in the future as well.”