JSO responds to criticism on growing backlog of cold case files

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The city of Jacksonville has 752 unsolved homicides dating back to 1990. To put it in perspective, that’s only 577 fewer than the entire state of Colorado.

Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Chief of Investigations Tom Hackney calls the numbers staggering.

“There are somewhere along the lines of 700-some odd murderers walking the street somewhere not in custody where they belong,” said Hackney.

Action News Jax Lorena Inclán spoke one-on-one with Hackney about the city’s growing backlog of cold cases.

You wouldn’t know it’s growing problem by looking at JSO’s website because the last time the unsolved homicides page was updated was two years ago.

Hackney said the department is working to fix that.

“My vision of this is to try to have the last current picture we have of the victim and put a little bit of the story about who they were, I don't want them to be a number,” said Hackney.

Ryan Backmann, whose father’s case is one of the 752 unsolved cases, said the Sheriff’s Office could do more.

“I don't feel like that information is being asked for as adequately as it could be,” said Backmann. “My dad's picture is not on the JSO website. Neither are any of the other unsolved homicides. So if you want somebody to come forward, you need to advertise, ‘Hey we are looking for information in these cases.’”

Backmann created his own website through his nonprofit Project Cold Case and is working with Sen. Aaron Bean to pass a bill that would create a statewide task force and eventually a statewide database.

“Right now we have over 15,000 unsolved murders in the state of Florida since 1990. Many of those have gone cold. No one is looking for the killers,” Bean said.

“In your opinion can JSO do more?” Inclán asked.

“We can always do more,” Hackney replied. “I can't stand here and say we do everything we can but I can certainly say that the men and women who devote their time and careers to investigating murders and cold case murders, they put their heart and soul into it.”

Hackney agrees public safety is on the line but he said chipping away at the backlog requires a communitywide effort.

“Somebody knows about [something] somebody has heard something,” said Hackney.

Action News Jax asked Hackney about whether the Sheriff’s Office could post cold cases on social media every now and then. Hackney said he’s not opposed to that idea. Right now, the department has a team of four detectives and a supervisor tasked with periodically submitting potential evidence on cold cases but Hackney said a shortage of officers plays a role in how much they can really do.

Bean’s office confirms there is $50,000 set aside in the Senate budget for the Cold Case Task Force but it’s unclear if the House has set aside money for the bill.

This is the third time the Cold Case Task Force proposal is introduced, Bean and Backmann remain hopeful it’ll pass this year.

Cox Media Group