Homicide is different...

Detectives from the Greenville Police Department Major Crimes Unit recently arrested 3 suspects in reference to the murder of Dontae Haddock on June 30 in Greenville. 

Unlike many crimes, where a single unit or section of the department may be assigned to work the case, homicide cases represent an all-out effort by every element within a police department.  No departmental resources are left unused to solve a murder.  

The amount of manpower alone can be staggering.  Every available person may be called upon to follow leads,  process evidence, investigate or eliminate potential suspects, secure crime scenes, or do whatever needs to be done.   It is not unusual for detective teams to work 24 hours straight when a homicide occurs.

There is paperwork, too.  Every person involved in a homicide case, from the patrol officer who gets the initial call, to the forensics technicians, to the detectives, and anyone else who may have come in contact with the case, is required to document exactly how they were involved and what they did.   A typical homicide case will have thousands of pages of reports.  Compare that to a burglary report, with maybe 12-15 pages.  The 2008 double homicide that occurred downtown, for example, contained more than 2,500 pages of reports and more than 30 DVDs of recorded interviews and telephone conversations.  Additonally, there were well over a dozen large boxes of physical evidence, including everything from DNA swabs and bullet casings, to clothes and suitcases, and even a car. 

Furthermore, there are special laws and rules that apply to homicide investigations.  Certain interviews must be recorded, either audibly or by video.  In a homicide case, a detective team will follow leads that are likely to go nowhere, but they must be followed to their conclusion. 

And when an arrest is finally made, the investigation still doesn't stop.  Follow up interviews are done with potential witnesses and with people who may have little or nothing to offer for the case, but perhaps their name was brought up somehow.  All leads and connections with the case must be explored and eliminated or expounded upon.  This follow up continues right through to the trial phase of the case.

Upon conclusion of the trial,  evidence and reports are kept almost indefinitely.  Whereas in other types of cases, many pieces of evidence and property are destroyed by court order,  in homicide cases this property is archived and kept for many decades.

Homicide cases are different.  Homicide detectives have a different type of job.  No greater honor will ever be bestowed on an officer, or a more profound duty imposed upon him, than to be entrusted to investigate the death of another human being.