"The Police Have Given Up": An Empirical Examination of Covictims' Beliefs About Cold Case Homicide Investigations

This work examines the perception by cold case homicide covictims that police have given up trying to solve their loved one's murder. A random sample (n = 65) of cold case homicide covictims is surveyed to determine if, and how, different forms of communication may be important in their perceptions about police. Ordered logistic regression analyses indicate that perceived importance of the information communicated, frequency of police contact, and satisfaction with communication efforts by police are inversely correlated with covictims' perceptions that police have given up on the investigation. These inverse correlations persist despite statistical controls and have important implications for the bereavement of covictims and for crime rates.