"Everybody Counts, or Nobody Counts"

 

 What the hell? I've been keeping tabs on the Hackman mystery and I just came across an article in USA today which clarifies some false information given in the early days of the investigation.

The dog that supposedly died is alive and well. There was no dog lying next to Hackman's wife in the bathroom. There was a dog, a puppy, who was in a crate, which most likely died of starvation since the couple hadn't been found for nine days.

What kind of b.s. is this? Are cops too lazy to even attempt to record evidence right in front of them?

This sloppy work reminds of a series on Prime, called, 'Cold Case Files.' Police, detectives, witnesses and family members are interviewed giving their recollection of a case gone cold, one that hasn't been solved in years or even decades.

Project Cold Case estimates there are over 270,000 unsolved cases since 2020.

270,000.

Watching this program I can understand why. Many of the cases go back to the sixties and seventies when DNA wasn't available, but there certainly were other ways to solve a case such as work it, walk the streets, knock on doors, ask questions, follow a lead.

So many of these stories made me angry because it was clear the investigators put as little time and effort as possible. I laughed when I saw one detective, a woman, walk into the station wearing high heels. She then had to go out to a crime scene stumbling around. They did the bare minimum. So many of the cases had a number one suspect yet the suspect wasn't arrested until decades later if still alive. 

I understand real life is not CSI, where the perp is arrested after three hours of working it. Most DNA or ballistics tests still take weeks to get back. 

Still, there are other means to closing a case. The majority of these detectives come from blue collar environments. They aren't exactly Einstein's. No, they didn't choose to be a cop after giving up tenure as a college professor, or a career as a scientist. Their choices were limited. They aren't a Bosch or a Bones. Most are like a Joe from the Bronx. 

Remember how screwed up the Jon Benet case was? Cops walking on and around possible evidence. Detectives dismissing the parents and son as suspects right away. It was a complete tutorial on how not to solve a crime.

The worst case I can recall is the child, Riley Fox, who was abducted, raped then tossed over a bridge. The police zoned in on the father as the one and only suspect. Her father confessed to killing her after being interrogated for hours and was promised he could go home if he only confessed. It was his lawyer who proved with DNA evidence he wasn't her killer. Another man eventually confessed to the crime. After an investigation it was clear the investigators on the case were so sure it was her father they ignored actual evidence.

A favorite line from the Prime series 'Bosch,' 'Everybody counts, or nobody counts.'

Do better, people. Do better.