The Montreal police are making a significant push to solve their backlog of cold cases with a revamped unit dedicated to investigating unsolved homicides. The unit will benefit from 16 full-time detectives, advanced DNA technology, and the active involvement of the public.
The head of the Montreal police force's major crimes unit, Mélanie Dupont, is putting a renewed focus on cold cases . Dupont, who took on the role of commander in November, announced that the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) will dedicate 16 full-time detectives to tackling the city's hundreds of unsolved homicides. Previously, only six detectives were assigned to cold cases , often pulled away to handle new murders.
'Mixed with the homicide unit, it's not going fast enough,' Dupont explained. 'It's better if it's separate.' There are currently over 800 unsolved homicides in the SPVM's files. While Dupont acknowledges that the improved unit might not solve them all, she hopes to prioritize cases where DNA evidence was collected. She believes new tools, such as genetic genealogy, which utilizes broader DNA databases to identify suspects' relatives, can provide closure to families who have been waiting for answers.'We want the same answers as them,' Dupont stated. 'We want to work on that. Now we have the possibility to do it.' The new cold case squad will utilize a range of investigative techniques, including advanced DNA analysis capable of generating suspect profiles from minuscule samples. They will also actively seek public assistance to advance stalled cases. Toronto police have recently achieved breakthroughs in cold cases using genetic genealogy, but Montreal police are yet to replicate these successes. Stéphane Luce, a private investigator and president of Meurtres et Disparitions Irresolus du Québec (MDIQ), a website tracking unsolved murders and disappearances, says families are eager for updates from the SPVM. He expressed surprise at the limited number of investigators previously assigned to cold cases and their frequent reassignment to new homicides.'I could feel it from the families that there was no responses from the cases that are in the SPVM's court — but now I know why,' he commented. 'The SPVM will have to prove to these families that they're working hard on their cases.' Marc Bellemare, a lawyer who has represented families of cold case victims for decades, welcomed the SPVM's decision to bolster its cold case unit. He highlighted the frustration many families have expressed regarding a perceived lack of transparency from investigators. Manon Lisée, whose brother Stéphane Gauthier was kidnapped and murdered in 1982, shared her ongoing struggle to obtain information from the police. 'Every three, four years I call the police,' she said. 'I want news but they never have something important to tell me.' She sees the new and improved cold case squad as a positive development.
COLD CASES MONTREAL POLICE DNA TECHNOLOGY GENETIC GENEALOGY UNSOLVED HOMICIDES
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