F B I Law Enforcement Bulletin - June 2003 Issue

could be used for traditional pin
maps. Alternatively, investigators
could use GIS data to store and
search offender time lines like those
prepared for suspected or known
serial killers. Once offender time
lines are stored, GIS data for each
newly entered case could be automatically
compared with the time
lines. For example, an automated
hit system could report to the analyst
that plus or minus 3 days, a
killer was in the town where the
murder occurred. 19
A Communication Tool
Police agencies across the
country recognize New ViCAP as a
valuable violent crime communication
tool. The first pair of cities to
use New ViCAP were Kansas City,
Missouri, and Kansas City, Kansas.
Now, police and sheriff departments
in the largest metropolitan
areas are using New ViCAP, including
Baltimore, Maryland; Chicago,
Illinois; Los Angeles, California;
Miami, Florida; New York,
New York; and Washington, D.C.
Further, MOUs and the New
ViCAP system are in place with 40
states. More than 400 state and local
law enforcement entities use the
New ViCAP software.
The architecture of the New
ViCAP network is as varied as the
needs of its users. For some states,
such as Colorado, a “hub and
spoke” design works well. MOUs
are created between the Colorado
Case Example: Bag of Bones
Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and
cities and counties in the state.
Cases can be entered at the local
level and uploaded to the state. In
addition to its networking arrangements,
CBI selected New ViCAP as
the statewide tool for sex offender
registry.
Other states have implemented
a regional model. For example, the
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s and
Los Angeles Police Departments
provide an excellent example of
regional concept application. The
sheriff’s department serves as the
collection point and analysis hub
for cases in the county. MOUs are
in place between the sheriff’s
department and 45 of the 46 police
agencies in the county, thus
In 2001, a ViCAP crime analyst reviewed a state police publication that mentioned a bag of
human bones found by hunters in a seaboard forest of an eastern state. The victim was a white
male, about 40 to 60 years old, and between 5' 7" and 5' 9" in height. His cause of death was blunt
force trauma to the head. Recovered with the remains was a 14-carat gold ring with engraved
letters. Authorities had no leads for identification of the remains.
A ViCAP crime analyst searched the database using the physical description of the victim and
then made an additional search, thinking that the letters engraved in the ring might be the initials
of a name. A possible match was made with a July 1998 case where three people were reported
missing from a midwestern state. The report was made by a fourth member of the family, a son,
who waited a week before reporting his mother, father, and sibling as missing persons. Personnel
had exhausted all investigative leads.
Authorities in the eastern and midwestern states contacted each other. In January 2001, ViCAP
learned that forensic odontology had identified the bones in the bag as those of the father missing
from the midwestern state. The letters in the recovered ring represented the maiden name of the
missing mother and the name of the missing father.
ViCAP learned later that a suspect was identified and charged with the murder—the oldest son
who made the report in the midwest. The remains of his mother and his sibling have not been
located.
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