NamUs.gov is The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. I’m pleased at how quickly word has gotten around about this database. I’ve even seen it be used as a plot point in a tv show (I forget which!).

So to help spread the word I wanted to link to a recent AP story about NamUs.gov by Steve Karnowski. It was picked up a lot of places, here is one version at the Guardian.

The story, which is titled, Database Can Crack Missing Person Cases—if Used, begins:

A new online database promises to crack some of the nation’s 100,000 missing persons cases and provide answers to desperate families, but only a fraction of law enforcement agencies are using it.

The clearinghouse, dubbed NamUs (Name Us), offers a quick way to check whether a missing loved one might be among the 40,000 sets of unidentified remains that languish at any given time with medical examiners across the country. NamUs is free, yet many law enforcement agencies still aren’t aware of it, and others aren’t convinced they should use their limited staff resources to participate.

The picture is from the story. “In a photo made March 17, 2007, Janice Smolinski poses in her Cheshire, Conn., home where a photo of her son, Billy, is visible in the foreground. Billy disappeared from his Waterbury, Conn. home in Aug. 2004 and Smolinski believes a Justice Department database program will someday help find her son who was 31 when he vanished. (AP Photo/Michelle McLoughlin, File)”

One of the cases I looked into while researching the NYPD’s Cold Case Squad involved a missing 28 year old woman named Kristine Kupka. Like so many other cases, I’ve never forgotten it. So I was excited to learn that there’s been recent movement in this investigation. You can read a recent Daily News piece here. For the entire history of this murder and investigation, New York Magazine did a great piece.

Many detectives have worked on this case over the years, including private investigators, but I’m told Det. James Bruinsma has the case now. I just googled him and I see he has picked up other cases that I looked into years ago, like Sherri Ford. It’s not easy to pick up cases that stymied so many other detectives before you. (Hang in there, Det. Bruinsma.) I really hope they uncover new evidence in Kristine’s case (and all the others). Good luck, Det. Bruinsma and everyone else who is working to finally solve Kristine’s murder. And thank you everyone who has tried along the way.

There’s also been movement in another more recent cold case. Dmitry Yakovlev has been charged with the 2007 murder of Irina Malezhik. There’s a Daily news about this case here. This is an evolving story and Yakovlev may be charged with more murders. UPDATE: Yakovlev was also indicted for the murder of Viktor Alekseyev.

Like many other cases, a lot of people were involved in the investigation, and I believe this was retired Detective Steve Kaplan’s case originally, but it’s Det. Wendell Stradford’s now. Stradford is working with Special Agents from the FBI, and members of the NYPD’s OCID (Organized Crime Investigation Division). So congratulations to Det. Stradford, and members of the FBI and OCID. I’d name your names if I knew them.

This is about my post earlier today.  I was thinking, Kelly must have been aware of these problems. And he must have known it was just a matter of time before someone reported on them.  How much better it would have been if they had broken the story themselves.  “We completed an internal audit of how we report crime and we’ve found the following problems.  Here is what we’re going to do to fix them, and we expect it take take this long …” and so on.  I’m sure reactions to that would have been all over the map, but the over-riding response would have been praise.

While it’s a surprise to no one, it’s good that the subject of the CompStat numbers has finally come up and is being aired publicly.

I know that some people are like, “so what else is new,” and they don’t believe this is a big deal since crime is, in fact, genuinely down.  But it is important, especially outside Manhattan, where the numbers are the most inaccurate.  Inaccurate numbers result in an inadequate response.

Another very important thing to look at are the figures for cleared cases.  Cases are cleared, or closed, when an arrest has been made.  If the person who was arrested is later cleared, the NYPD doesn’t go back and “unclear” the case.  The case may be re-opened depending on the amount of media attention, but just as often as not, it will remain closed or dormant.  So the numbers the NYPD provides for cleared or solved cases is also not entirely accurate.  (I should point out that I’m speaking about homicide cases here.  That is the crime I researched.  What I say might be true for all crime cases investigated by the NYPD, but I can’t say that with authority.)

Perhaps what is also not a surprise is that pressure from without and within mixed with poor judgment and the culture of the NYPD created such a situation.  But CompStat is an enormously useful tool and these are fixable problems.  Bottom line, this is a good thing.  While I can just imagine what’s going on behind the scenes at the NYPD right now, this attention is good and will lead to improvement. There’s a lot of people doing a great job, and accurate information can only help them do even better.

Anyone following this subject is probably well aware of these articles, but here are links to some of the recent articles about the veracity of the CompStat numbers.

From The New York Times:

Retired Officers Raise Questions on Crime Data

Former Commander Recalls Pressure to Alter Reports

Forget Police Data; New Yorkers Rely on Own Eyes

From The Daily News:

Brooklyn’s 81st Precinct probed by NYPD for fudging stats

Report of fudged crime stats from Brooklyn’s 81st Precinct deserves hearing, Councilman Vallone says

Leonard Levitt’s comments on NYPD Confidential.Com are well worth reading.

(The picture above was taken at the Property Clerk Warehouse, and those barrels contain crime scene evidence.)