Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2024, $323,675)
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Detective Bureau’s Detective Support and Vice Division Missing Persons Unit (MPU) performs all investigative activities on Missing Persons (M/P) ages 18 and older, from patrol division referral or telephone intake, to disposition. The MPU works closely with the County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner to identify potential matches between M/P and unidentified human remains (UHR). The LAPD will utilize this funding to implement Operation Hope, with the goal of implementing a comprehensive approach to improve the identification efforts of M/P and/or UHR, including migrants, in the city by initiating an internal DNA collection and processes through the LAPD Forensic Sciences Division and decreasing the number of cold cases in MPU and coordinating with the Department of Medical Examiner in identifying UHR.