U.S. Department
of Justice
The Department of Justice’s Efforts to Investigate and Prosecute Unsolved Civil Rights Era Homicides
Community Engagement & Contacting the Division
The Division is committed to engaging with community members who may have information about cold cases. The first step in the Department’s civil rights cold case effort was to have each of the FBI’s 56 field offices identify cases in its jurisdiction that might warrant review. In 2007, we conducted extensive outreach to entities including the NAACP, Southern Poverty Law Center, and the National Urban League, community groups, academic institutions, and state and local law enforcement organizations. We also conducted an aggressive media campaign, granting interviews to numerous outlets, including New York Times, the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, National Public Radio, the British Broadcasting Company, 60 Minutes, Dateline, and local media outlets, in an effort to elicit the public’s assistance with locating witnesses to these crimes, as well as family members of the victims. When our work began, we had identified 95 matters for inclusion. Largely as a result of this outreach, that number has grown to 113.
If any member of the public discovers new information related to any closed case, or otherwise needs to contact the Civil Rights Division about any case, please call (202) 514-4609 or (TTY) (202) 514-0716.