Cold Case Handbook: Second Ed.

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CURRENT EDITION 2nd
VOLUMES 1
AUTHOR Joseph L Giacalone
LAST RELEASE DATE October 11, 2024
Cold Case Handbook: Second Ed.

In stock

$24.95

This in-depth look at solving cold cases serves as an excellent training resource that is both captivating and instructive. The author, Joseph Giacalone, focuses on how to approach these cases in a logical, scientific and organized manner.

The Cold Case Handbook is the first of its kind that includes not just investigative steps for law enforcement to help close cold cases, but also information for the victims’ families, and the true crime community. The Handbook covers the Cold Case Trilogy: Homicides, Sexual Assaults, and Missing Persons. It also includes a breakdown of the two new federal laws passed in 2022 – The Homicide Victims’ Families’ Rights Act and the Help Find the Missing Act – both will be crucial in moving these cases forward.

Joseph Giacalone, retired NYPD Sergeant SDS and former Commanding Officer of the Bronx Cold Case Squad, gives you the opportunity to benefit from his experiences in supervising a cold case squad with some of the best detectives in the world. Inside the publication you’ll find investigative techniques, strategies, and the latest in forensic advancements, which can help solve America’s toughest cases. Here are some of the topics covered:

 •  How to Start a Cold Case Squad
 •  Choosing Personnel for the Cold Case Squad
 •  Why Cases Go Cold and How to Prevent it
 •  Choosing cases for reinvestigation
 •  Researching a cold case
 •  Steps to take in the reinvestigation and which pitfalls to avoid
 •  The Role of the True Crime Community in Helping Solve Cold Cases
 •  Suggestions for the Victims’ families as well as available resources
 •  Cold Case Symposiums and Cold Case Institutes and their role in the process

 
The Cold Case Handbook is broken into two sections:
Section I: The Administrative Tasks of Cold Case Investigation
Section II: The Reinvestigation of a Cold Case 
 
The Cold Case Handbook is designed to be a start to finish guide through the Cold Case process: From finding the right case to presenting it to the district attorney and everything in between.

Table of Contents

  • About the Author
  • Preface
    • What’s New in the Second Edition of The Cold Case Handbook
    • Focus
    • Preface Overview
    • Book Organization
    • Structure and Features
    • Introduction to Cold Cases
  • Introduction

 

Chapter 1 — The Homicide Victims’ Families’ Rights Act of 2021

  • Background on the Law
  • What Police Executives and Investigators Need to Know About the New Law
  • Breakdown of the New Law
  • Which Cold Cases Does the Law Affect?
  • How Will the Process Work?
  • Full Reinvestigation
  • Withholding Information
  • Annual Reporting Requirements
  • Moving Forward
  • Public Movement to Create State Homicide Victims’ Families’ Rights Act
  • Role of the True Crime Community

 

Chapter 2 — Starting a Cold Case Squad

  • Defining the Mission of the Cold Case Squad
  • Does the Department Need a Cold Case Squad?
  • How Many Cases are There?
  • Obstacles To Creating a Cold Case Squad
  • Grant Writing Tips for Police Departments
  • The Use of Retired Law Enforcement, Civilians, and Volunteers
  • Cold Case Symposiums
  • Cold Case Institutes
  • Using Personnel with Medical Issues
  • Evaluating the Current Cold Case Squad
  • Cold Case CompStat

 

Chapter 3 — Choosing the Right Personnel for the Cold Case Squad

  • Create an Application and Interview Process
  • Choosing a Supervisor for the Cold Case Squad
  • Traits and Skills
  • Skill Sets
  • A Cold Case Squad Personnel Wish List
  • The Final Thoughts

 

Chapter 4 — Why Do Cases Go Cold?

  • Factors That Can Cause a Case to Go Cold

 

Chapter 5 — Choosing a Cold Case to Investigate

  • How Many Cases Should a Cold Case Investigator Carry?
  • Starting the Cold Case File Quest
  • How to Evaluate a Cold Case
  • Solvability Factors
  • Other Types of Evidence
  • New Information
  • Out of the Blue
  • A Connected Case
  • A Case with Federal Assistance
  • New Eyewitness or Reluctant One Surfaces
  • A Named Suspect

 

Chapter 6 — Organizing and Reviewing the Cold Case File

  • Handle the Case File with Care
  • The Case File
  • Breaking Down the Case File

 

Chapter 7 — Researching a Cold Case

  • Timelines
  • The Weather
  • Medical Examiner/Coroner
  • What Can Be Found in the Autopsy Report?
  • Reporters and Journalists
  • Social Media
  • Cold Case Advocates

 

Chapter 8 — The Photographic Crime Scene Walkthrough

  • The Reinvestigation Mindset
  • Listen to the 911 Call(s)
  • The Photographic Crime Scene Walkthrough
  • Staged Crime Scenes
  • Questions That Need to be Answered
  • The Postmortem Interval with Crime Scene Photographs
  • Crime Scene Sketches
  • Video Surveillance
  • Visiting the Crime Scene
  • Crime Scene Reconstruction
  • Developing a Hypothesis
  • Testing the Hypothesis

 

Chapter 9 — The Reinvestigation of the Case — Reading the Reports

  • Cold Cases are Different
  • How Many Reports Should You Read?
  • The Main Investigative Reports
  • The Interviews
  • The Law Enforcement Group
  • EMS/EMTs/Fire Department
  • Last Responders
  • Witnesses
  • Canvass Interviews
  • Internet Records, Phone Records, and Video Surveillance
  • Eyewitness Identification
  • Evidence Test Results
  • Does Your Hypothesis Still Hold Water?
  • Documentation
  • Reaching out to the Original Investigator(s)

Chapter 10 — The Reinvestigation of the Case — Reinterviews

  • Canvass
  • Conducting the Interview
  • Rapport Building
  • Types of Questions to Ask
  • Questions You Shouldn’t Use
  • Active Listening
  • Preventing Interview Contamination
  • Note Taking
  • The Assessment

 

Chapter 11 — Social Media for Cold Case Investigations

  • Social Media Benefits in Practice
  • Starting a Social Media Presence for the Cold Case Squad
  • Which Platforms Should You Consider?
  • When and How to Use Social Media
  • Research
  • What About Privacy Issues?
  • Subpoenas/Warrant
  • Documentation

 

Chapter 12 — Report Writing

  • Legal Issues
  • Brady Material
  • Writing the Investigative Reports
  • Tell Me a Story
  • Qualities of a Good Report
  • Separate Reports
  • The Final Report
  • Supervisors

 

Chapter 13 — Cold Case Missing Persons

  • Why Do People Go Missing?
  • Who was Billy Smolinski Jr.?
  • The Help Find the Missing Act
  • National Missing Persons Day
  • National Missing and Unidentified Human Remains System (NamUs)
  • Reexamining a Cold Missing Persons Case
  • Redo the Victimology
  • Cold Case Digs
  • The Use of Forensic Artists to Help Identify the Unidentified
  • New Forensic Technologies to Help Identify the Unidentified
  • No Body Cases
  • International Missing Persons Cases

 

Chapter 14 — The Search for a Known Suspect

  • What Are Some of the Things You Should Be Thinking About?
  • The NCIC Offline Search
  • Fusion Centers
  • Disseminate Suspect’s Photograph
  • Crime Stoppers
  • International Wanted Persons

 

Chapter 15 — Interrogation

  • A Quick History on the Miranda Case
  • Read the Miranda Warnings
  • Admission v. Confession
  • Can the Police Lie?
  • Interrogations and Cold Cases
  • Video Recording of Cold Case Interrogations

 

Chapter 16 — Cold Case Sexual Assaults

  • Cold Case Sexual Assaults
  • John Doe Warrants
  • Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kits (Rape Kits)
  • The Rape Kit Backlog
  • Legislation to Track Rape Kits
  • Grants to Help Alleviate the Rape Kit Backlog
  • Referrals for Victims of Sexual Assault
  • Joyful Heart Foundation’s Six Pillars of Reform

Chapter 17 — Victims’ Family Resources

  • For the Family
  • What is a Cold Case Advocate?
  • Formal and Informal Processes in Police Departments
  • Suggested Questions to Ask the Police Department at the Meeting
  • When There is a Differing Opinion on the Manner of Death
  • Making a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request
  • Behavioral Content Creation
  • Project: Cold Case
  • Uncovered.com
  • Other Cold Case Websites and Organizations of Interest

 

Chapter 18 — Cold Case Prosecution

  • Horizontal vs. Vertical Prosecution
  • It’s the DA’s Decision, Not Yours to Move Forward
  • What is Probable Cause +1 Then?
  • Documentation
  • Admissibility of Expert Testimony

 

Chapter 19 — Cold Case Investigations: Requesting Help from the Media

  • Developing a Media Outreach Plan
  • Suggestions to Include in the Plan

 

 

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