TOLEDO, Ohio — It’s been a violent two weeks in Toledo.
Between April 22 and May 6, there have been 9 homicides in the city, bringing the total number for the year to 17. Eight of those homicides remain unsolved.
That has many people in the community asking what police are doing to get the violent criminals off the street.
But Toledo Police say they can’t do it alone, and continue to ask for help from the community to solve these crimes.
Todd Curtis, a former detective who now works with the Wood County Prosecutor's office, says if a witness can help fill-in some of the gaps, an investigation can and will move a lot quicker.
Curtis says one of the reasons investigations can take longer than the public might like is the backlog in testing of key evidence, such as DNA and ballistics which that can slow down investigations.
And since police weren’t on the scene during the committing of the crime, witnesses’ testimony can be the most important element in the investigation of a crime.
“They’re coming to the scene minutes, sometimes hours afterwards and they’re starting from scratch,” said Curtis. “They literally have to piece this whole thing back together based on the evidence and what they’re finding at the scene and coming up with their theories and then looking for support or witnesses or someone willing to back that up or maybe give them that one little nugget that they need to solve that case.”
Curtis says even seemingly small details - such as a vehicle description or partial license plate numbers - can make a big difference in these investigations.