Cops Launch Interactive Website Aimed At Helping Solve Murders, Including Cold Cases
Posted November 17, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Toronto police are turning to the web to help solve murder cases old and new.
On Monday the Homicide Squad launched its new interactive website aimed at locating suspects with the assistance of online tips. Click on the site and viewers will find links to current and cold cases.
Each case page contains any available information, as well as video, security images, YouTube appeals and news conferences.
There’s also a form called ‘Submit-A-Tip’ where people can enter information that will be sent directly to homicide investigators. Depending on the case these tips can also result in a cash reward.
“A very significant portion of our population, and in particular young people in our city, most of their information on the web,” noted Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair.
“They get it by looking for information by frequenting social networking sites on YouTube, and by putting information on those sites we’re able to reach a very significant part of the population.”
Among the cases police hope to solve with this new initiative, the deaths of two women in 1983 that have been linked to a single killer. Susan Tice, 45, was sexually assaulted and fatally stabbed in August of that year. Months later, in December, 22-year-old Erin Gilmour was killed in her Yorkville apartment.
The area where people can submit tips isn’t anonymous, and there’s a reason for that.
“What we hope to have visit our site are people who are willing to participate in solving this crime,” explains Toronto Police Det. Greg Groves. “And that means we need to know who they are – who is providing this information, and have them be prepared to come to court and help us reach a conviction.
“The entire focus is on unsolved cases,” he adds. “We certainly hope they will assist us in solving these murders.”
Click here to visit the new Toronto Police website.
