Investigation 101: Law Enforcement and Families Must Unite

By Tad DiBiase

As a former homicide prosecutor and now consultant on murder cases, I often hear complaints from victim's families about how they are treated by the police. The complaints repeatedly center on a number of issues.

• First, that the police aren't providing the family with enough information or that they fail to keep the family in the loop on where the investigation is. 
• Second, families complain that the police haven't followed up on the leads they've provided. 
• Third, families complain that the police don't want to accept help from outside parties, be they other law enforcement agencies such as the FBI or state investigative bureaus or retired detectives or consultants and third party search groups. 

It has always struck me that in going behind these complaints, that both the victims' families and the police are partially to blame for these complaints. But more importantly, the solution to these complaints is often straightforward. 

First, it is incumbent upon the police to keep the family informed. Whether the investigation is a day old, a year old or a decade old there should be regular communication between the lead investigator and a family member. The family should assign one member to handle the police communications so the police aren't bogged down by replying to several different family members. Having one member keeps the communication clear and enables the police to tell others who inquire about the investigation to contact that family member. 

Obviously the longer an investigation goes on, the more infrequent the communications but it's hard to imagine any investigation (this is a murder after all) that doesn't warrant a call to the family once every two to three months. 

Second, the complaint that the police aren't following up particular leads can have merit. Police do often fail to really listen to the family about who may be responsible for a loved ones death. Investigators need to constantly go back to the family and ask, "Is there anything we missed? What else or who else is out there?" Often leads come to family well after the victim's murder or disappearance when a guilty conscience finally gets to someone. On the other hand, families need to let the police do their job. They are paid and trained to investigate and even a rookie police detective has more training to do an investigation than virtually any regular citizen. Often investigative methods are so sensitive to reveal them even to a family member can jeopardize their success. 

Finally, yes the police are often reluctant to seek outside help. Whether it's true or not (and I suspect it's usually not) the FBI has a reputation for taking over a case and leaving the local law enforcement authorities behind. However, virtually any investigation, especially as leads grow cold, can benefit from fresh eyes and most small departments are ill equipped to handle complex, long term cold cases. 

Having faced skeptical police departments myself during my role as a consultant, it's obvious that many departments ask themselves about the motives of any volunteer. "You in this to help or to get your name in the paper?" Any non-law enforcement group should be viewed skeptically but there are groups that want to help without pay or glory. 

In the end, a fractured relationship between a family and the investigating authorities makes a challenging case even more difficult to solve. And in the end, both families and law enforcement want the same thing: justice. 

Tad DiBiase is a former US Attorney who has successfully prosecuted cases of murder without a body.  To learn more, visit Tad's website:  http://nobodycases.com

Survivors of Crime Are Victims, Too

By Tad DiBiase

When I first began prosecuting homicides many years ago, I was never comfortable with the victim’s families.  I never knew what to say or how to act.  While many prosecutors rightly consider themselves advocates for the victims, victims aren’t “clients” and prosecutors don’t technically represent the victims.

 Sometimes I would handle cases where the homicide victim had no family who cared enough to ever come to court or follow the proceedings in any fashion. I admit that sometimes those cases were easier to deal with because there was no victim and no victim’s family.  (As an aside, I used to tell everyone that as a federal prosecutor for the United States I represented 380 million people which in reality meant I didn’t represent any of them!  I did enjoy coming home and telling my family that the “United States” was hungry or that the “United States” wanted a beer.) 

My discomfort with dealing with victims caused me to rely on the talented victim advocates in our office.  One advocate in particular, Marcy Rinker, became my “go to” advocate in all cases.  Marcy, who became a good friend of mine, was compassionate, listened well and had a can do spirit that always seemed to give the victim’s family the reassurance that we would win the case and that it was in good hands.  She was also an extremely skilled investigator in her own right to the extent that I dubbed her Detective Rinker.   I managed to ensure that Marcy became the advocate in all of my cases even when the system tried to thwart me.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office had a system where victim advocates rotated each day so that when a new case came in, the advocate on duty that day would handle the case.  By cleverly holding off on declaring when a new case came in, I was able to “bring in” a new case only on the days when Marcy was on duty. 

Over the years as I watched Marcy, I learned more about how to deal with the victim’s families: listen, offer support and advice if asked, and don’t overpromise.  As the years went on I became more comfortable dealing with the families myself and realized there are no magic words that can lessen their pain.  Ironically, in my role today as a consultant to the police, prosecutors and families, I almost never meet my families face to face.  I still feel their pain through their emails and telephone calls.  But I also feel their relief when their loved ones body is found and the suspect arrested.  Relief tinged with sorrow though at the realization that their loved on is never coming back.  Being a victim or the loved one of a victim is a horrible state to be in and we all need to learn better how to deal with victims and their families.