The National Case Closed Project: Supporting Evidence-Based Practices for Violent Crime Investigations

Purpose:  Research has demonstrated that law enforcement agencies (LEAs) can increase clearance rates by (1) making changes to their agency and investigative units, (2) taking action to improve investigator and supervisor performance, and (3) strengthening their relationship with communities. Yet despite an increasing evidence base on what works for clearing violent crimes, LEAs have not implemented these approaches on a large scale. RTI International’s multidisciplinary team has experience investigating violent crime, conducting agency assessments, and providing training and technical assistance (TTA) to support investigations and improve clearance rates. The requested supplemental funding will enhance the site assessment and TTA components of this national project.

Primary Activities: The RTI-led project team includes practitioners and researchers who are leaders in the fields of  investigations, gun violence, forensic science, victim advocacy, and prosecution to assess fatal and nonfatal shooting investigations in a minimum of 10 LEAs. The assessments will include site visits, policy and training curriculum reviews, personnel and stakeholder interviews, coding of investigation case files, and analyses of associated agency data.

Following each assessment, we will meet with the LEA to review our findings and will create a set of LEA-specific recommendations and incorporate them into a Smartsheet dashboard. RTI will use this dashboard to track agency progress in implementing recommendations, measure changes in agency performance, and provide TTA. Supplemental funding will be used to enhance the project’s directed and national TTA components by (1) improving the project website to include a toolkit and (2) providing increased resources for directed TTA to project sites. Finally, RTI will host two national convenings with the participating stakeholders and other guests and will use supplemental funding to pay for travel expenses for key non-government project members who otherwise could not attend.

Products and Deliverables: RTI will develop site assessment protocols, instruments, and a description of site selection methodology; summary reports that describe agency-specific recommendations; a project website that houses an online toolkit and other educational and training resources; two national convening summary reports; and summary reports for the field summarizing the project’s key findings and implications for policy and practice. We also will complete all semiannual BJA reporting requirements.

Service Area and Populations to Benefit: The study will be conducted nationwide and will benefit all jurisdictions and LEAs that need information and evidence about how best to improve shooting investigations to enhance clearance rates.

Purpose:  Research has demonstrated that law enforcement agencies (LEAs) can increase clearance rates by (1) making changes to their agency and investigative units, (2) taking action to improve investigator and supervisor performance, and (3) strengthening their relationship with communities. Yet despite an increasing evidence base on what works for clearing violent crimes, LEAs have not implemented these approaches on a large scale. The National Case Closed initiative is helping LEAs identify agency weaknesses and make changes to policies and practices to clear more shootings. RTI International has formed a multidisciplinary team with experience investigating violent crime, conducting agency assessments, and providing training and technical assistance (TTA) to support investigations and improve clearance rates. The requested supplemental funding will enhance the impact of this national initiative.

Primary Activities: The RTI-led project team includes practitioners and researchers who are leaders in the fields of investigations, gun violence, forensic science, victim advocacy, and prosecution to assess fatal and nonfatal shooting investigations in 10 LEAs. The assessments include site visits, policy and training curriculum reviews, personnel and stakeholder interviews, coding of investigation case files, and analyses of associated agency data.

Following each assessment, RTI will meet with each LEA to review findings and will create a set of LEA-specific recommendations and incorporate them into a SmartSheet dashboard. RTI will use this dashboard to track agency progress in implementing recommendations, measure changes in agency performance, and provide TTA. Supplemental funding will be used to enhance the project’s directed and national TTA components by (1) providing increased resources for directed TTA to project sites, (2) providing increased resources for the development of education materials and tools, and (3) supporting a second national convening, including travel expenses for key non-government stakeholders and project members who otherwise could not attend.

Products and Deliverables: RTI will develop site assessment protocols, instruments, and a description of site selection methodology; summary reports that describe agency-specific recommendations; a project website that houses an online toolkit and other educational and training resources; two national convening summary reports; and education materials and tools to support improved shooting investigations across the nation. RTI also will complete all semiannual BJA reporting requirements.
Service Area and Populations to Benefit: The study will be conducted nationwide and will benefit all jurisdictions and LEAs that need information and evidence about how best to improve shooting investigations to enhance clearance rates.