The resource library
families deserve.

The staffing math is straightforward and damning. Leading homicide investigation experts hold that no detective should carry more than five active cases — yet most departments assign far more, and cold cases sit entirely outside that active queue. A Washington Post analysis of 48 major departments confirmed the direct relationship: higher caseloads produce lower arrest rates, consistently. Cold cases don’t go unreviewed because detectives don’t care. They go unreviewed because there is no time left after the current year’s homicides demand attention.

The Fix: The fix is structured bandwidth — not more full-time hires, but trained external capacity. Retired investigators, university cold case programs, and volunteer review organizations can organize case files, synthesize investigative histories, and flag actionable leads — freeing active detectives to pursue them. Programs like Western Michigan University and Russell Sage College are among the programs available.

Your advocacy lever: Ask your department whether they have a formal relationship with any university cold case program or volunteer review organization. Advocate for written MOUs that make this capacity official and sustainable. The Cold Case Advocacy Roadmap outlines how to initiate and document these requests.

The single most consistent complaint from families of cold case victims is not that the case failed — it is that no one told them anything. Only 9–20% of U.S. agencies maintain a written cold case family communication policy. Without a formal structure, updates depend entirely on the initiative of an individual detective.

The Fix: Create systems for regular, structured family updates — even when there is no new investigative movement. Designated family liaisons, written communication timelines, trauma-informed disclosure protocols, and performance metrics that track family contact as an accountability measure.

Your advocacy lever: Formally request a written communication protocol from your agency. Ask which elements of the protocol matrix in the Cold Case Advocacy Roadmap are currently in place. Advocate for victim liaison positions in budget discussions.

Structural failures persist until community pressure becomes legislation. Georgia’s Coleman-Baker Act, Rhode Island’s statewide cold case oversight unit, and Colorado’s Cold Case Task Force statute are all examples of what this looks like in practice — all driven by families who refused to leave the statehouse until someone listened. New York State does not yet have equivalent protections. Cold Case AdvocacyHub is proud to support the O’Connell family in launching a Change.org petition calling for legislation that would expand the rights and resources available to families of unsolved homicide victims in New York State — a campaign rooted in forty years of unanswered questions in Kristin’s case.

The Fix: Transform sustained public interest into durable legislative support — dedicated permanent cold case units, mandatory case review timelines, family rights legislation, and forensic funding allocations. Legislative change is slow, but it is the only fix that outlasts any individual detective, administration, or budget cycle

Your advocacy lever: Testify before your state’s Judiciary or Public Safety Committee. Partner with other families. Sustained pressure on the right committees has produced real statutory change — and the Cold Case Advocacy Roadmap Phase 5 provides the complete legislative framework.