As of Oct. 6, there have been 123 homicides in Columbus this year. Behind each one of those numbers is a family wanting answers.
The Columbus Division of Police have solved about half the homicides this year and have started a pilot program in hopes of being able to solve more.
“There are so many unsolved cases here, it's sad. I'm one of those parents of an unsolved case,” Keeandra Brown said.
Keeandra Brown describes her 18-year-old son Brenden as a clown, someone who brought joy to any room. That joy was extinguished last Thanksgiving.
Brenden was shot and killed in a car right outside Shady Lane Elementary. No arrests have been made in his case.
“I want him to have justice, I want him to be able to rest in peace,” Keeandra Brown said.
To give homicide detectives a better chance at solving cases like Brenden’s, police are thinking outside the box and throwing out the typical three-shift system.
They are going to six teams of five detectives who work during the day, then will be on-call. Most homicides happen in the afternoon or at night. This new system will make sure each detective gets the same amount of cases.
“You try to distribute the workload so you have detectives on that one particular homicide that they were assigned so they can dedicate all their time to it and hopefully solve it and bring some resolution to the family,” said Columbus Police Major Crimes Commander Robert Strausbaugh.
Detectives usually handle four to six homicide cases for an entire year. Most detectives have already exceeded that number this year.
One detective already has seven cases with three months left in the year.
The pilot program is aimed to give detectives more time on a single case, to give them a better chance at solving that case and possibly preventing more crime.
“That solve-ability also we find that the person who committed that homicide in all likelihood is probably involved in other criminal activity,” Strausbaugh said.
“We are trying to get the detectives every tool possible to succeed. This pilot is just one of those tools,” said Columbus Police Deputy Chief Tim Becker.
Tools to help solve cases and give the family the answers and justice they deserve.
“That was my only boy, my only son. It would mean everything in the world to me and my family,” Keeandra Brown said.
Columbus police will try this pilot program through the rest of the year.