PORTLAND, Ore. — On Wednesday, Portland Police relaunched the 'cold case unit' with help from a $2.5 million federal grant.
"The ability to secure this grant really is a great benefit to us," Portland Police Chief Bob Day said during a press conference.
The unit was disbanded back in 2022 as the bureau faced staffing shortages, lingering impacts of COVID-19 and record-breaking homicide rates. Now, they're relying on the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) to fund four detective positions, victim advocacy and new forensic testing.
The unit is tasked with investigating some 300 cases stretching back to the 1960s, one of which is the murder of Brian Spaulding.
"He was shot to death. We know exactly how, we know exactly where," said George Spaulding, Brian's father. "We don't know by who and we don't know why."
The Spauldings have sought answers ever since Brian was killed in his home near Irving Park in 2017. Now, they're encouraged by these renewed efforts to bring Brian's killer to justice.
"Hopefully, with the funding of this case, and the other cases as well, they'll get some information; they can narrow down a resolution to it," Spaulding said.
The unit was formed in 2004 and funded through a "patchwork" of grants and occasionally the city, explained long-time Detective Brendan McGuire.
McGuire also noted that $300,000 dollars within the grant will be reserved for new forensic testing.
"Before the unit disbanded in 2022, one of the projects we started doing was looking through those cases with a specific eye to forensic investigative genetic genealogy," McGuire said. "We have a list."
Detectives are now able to take advantage of that testing, and hopefully, help move stagnant investigations forward. The funding isn't limited to solving homicide cases; any violent crime, such as robberies and assaults, can be investigated.
Although homicide rates hit a high in 2022 and unsolved cases continue to stack up. Portland police investigated over 80 homicides in 2023. A spokesperson tells KGW that PPB had a 56% solvability rate, which is on pace with 2022.