The Pima County Sheriff’s Department has been notified by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) that they will be receiving $392,983 to further “Cold Case” homicide investigations.

This is the second grant awarded to the Cold Case Homicide Unit by NIJ; the first being in 2005 for $363,000.  The bulk of the funding from the first grant was allocated towards DNA testing on over 100 cold case homicides.  The most recent grant award will allow the Department to expand from three (3) detectives to five (5) and add a Public Safety Support Specialist.  The additional staffing is needed as the work over the last several years has yielded cases that warrant being reactivated as full-blown investigations.  Additional cold case homicides are being administratively reviewed and evidence sent to private laboratories for testing.