15PBJA22GG03137DNAX
Project Grant
Overview
Grant Description
Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) is one of the nation’s largest public prosecution agencies serving over 4.7 million residents. MCAO works with more than 25 different law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to prosecute crimes committed within Maricopa County.
Cold case type 1 violent crimes are handled largely by one prosecutor, three investigators, a criminal analyst, and a paralegal. Together they possess more than 80 years of combined experience with cold cases homicides and violent crimes.
MARICOPA COUNTY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE 2022 COLD CASE DNA PROPOSAL is a three-year project to increase the number of staff available to prosecute cold case violent crimes and provide continued staffing to support cold case investigations with a cold case analyst and overtime for existing detectives. Resources provided at these different levels ensure qualifying cold cases will be kept in the forefront, categorized, and revisited as new technologies are developed, and are not forgotten. This will ultimately lead to the identification of suspects and increase the number of cases brought forward for prosecution thus lowering the number of unsolved violent crimes and homicides within Maricopa County and improving public safety.
The MCAO project will continue efforts to create a complete database of part 1 violent crime and homicide cold cases within the county which stalled with the onset of COVID. This database will identify cases with suspect DNA either in CODIS without a match or available in evidence (mixtures and single sources) and other details allowing MCAO the opportunity to organize and prioritize cases based on solvability and better identify staffing and other financial needs for future funding opportunities. An informal request in 2019 identified more than 340 cold case homicides with suspect DNA. While an exact number is still unknown, law enforcement and public lab information estimate the number to be around 4,000. To fully understand the scope of unsolved homicides within the county, MCAO will utilize interns to assist MCAO, LEAs, and the public testing labs in completing a comprehensive inventory.
MCAO will track information to satisfy performance measures and reporting requirements and enter cases into required databases to identify, apprehend and prosecute those offenders who are a serious threat to public safety and bring closure to victims and their families.
Cold case type 1 violent crimes are handled largely by one prosecutor, three investigators, a criminal analyst, and a paralegal. Together they possess more than 80 years of combined experience with cold cases homicides and violent crimes.
MARICOPA COUNTY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE 2022 COLD CASE DNA PROPOSAL is a three-year project to increase the number of staff available to prosecute cold case violent crimes and provide continued staffing to support cold case investigations with a cold case analyst and overtime for existing detectives. Resources provided at these different levels ensure qualifying cold cases will be kept in the forefront, categorized, and revisited as new technologies are developed, and are not forgotten. This will ultimately lead to the identification of suspects and increase the number of cases brought forward for prosecution thus lowering the number of unsolved violent crimes and homicides within Maricopa County and improving public safety.
The MCAO project will continue efforts to create a complete database of part 1 violent crime and homicide cold cases within the county which stalled with the onset of COVID. This database will identify cases with suspect DNA either in CODIS without a match or available in evidence (mixtures and single sources) and other details allowing MCAO the opportunity to organize and prioritize cases based on solvability and better identify staffing and other financial needs for future funding opportunities. An informal request in 2019 identified more than 340 cold case homicides with suspect DNA. While an exact number is still unknown, law enforcement and public lab information estimate the number to be around 4,000. To fully understand the scope of unsolved homicides within the county, MCAO will utilize interns to assist MCAO, LEAs, and the public testing labs in completing a comprehensive inventory.
MCAO will track information to satisfy performance measures and reporting requirements and enter cases into required databases to identify, apprehend and prosecute those offenders who are a serious threat to public safety and bring closure to victims and their families.
Grant Program (CFDA)
Awarding / Funding Agency
Place of Performance
Phoenix,
Arizona
85003-2152
United States
Geographic Scope
Single Zip Code
Related Opportunity
Maricopa County Attorney's Office was awarded
Project Grant 15PBJA22GG03137DNAX
worth $500,000
from the Bureau of Justice Assistance in October 2022 with work to be completed primarily in Phoenix Arizona United States.
The grant
has a duration of 3 years and
was awarded through assistance program 16.741 DNA Backlog Reduction Program.
The Project Grant was awarded through grant opportunity BJA FY 22 Prosecuting Cold Cases Using DNA.
Status
(Ongoing)
Last Modified 11/17/22
Period of Performance
10/1/22
Start Date
9/30/25
End Date
Funding Split
$500.0K
Federal Obligation
$0.0
Non-Federal Obligation
$500.0K
Total Obligated
Activity Timeline
Additional Detail
Award ID FAIN
15PBJA22GG03137DNAX
SAI Number
None
Award ID URI
SAI NOT AVAILABLE
Awardee Classifications
County Government
Awarding Office
15PBJA OJP BUREAU OF JUSTICE ASSISTANCE
Funding Office
15PBJA OJP BUREAU OF JUSTICE ASSISTANCE
Awardee UEI
DP5UNAV7S2L7
Awardee CAGE
3UKF6
Performance District
07
Senators
Kyrsten Sinema
Mark Kelly
Mark Kelly
Representative
Raúl Grijalva
Budget Funding
| Federal Account | Budget Subfunction | Object Class | Total | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, Justice (015-0404) | Criminal justice assistance | Grants, subsidies, and contributions (41.0) | $500,000 | 100% |
Modified: 11/17/22