Most Victims Get a Post Card, Not an Officer

Sgts. Howard Williams and Jimmie McCaskill and their 20 detectives in the Police Department’s Southeastern station cannot possibly keep up with the mounting caseloads.

Each morning, they hand out three new cases to the detectives, who are already carrying an average load of 30 investigations. In addition, another 50 cases arrive each day from the police Telephone Report Unit.

So it is inevitable that the detectives will thumb quickly through the pile of crime reports, make a few cursory phone calls and send most of the cases to a hold file, where they gather dust before being shipped into storage. And forgotten.

“A lot of time they chase ghosts and push paper,” said Williams, describing how his detectives struggle to stay ahead of the work during their eight-hour shifts.

But victims naturally want fast and efficient police service. Their homes have been robbed, their purses stolen, their cars vandalized or worse.

But police manpower restrictions mean that seldom does a detective knock on the door of a burglary victim, dust his house for fingerprints or seek out witnesses. Time no longer allows that kind of police work in San Diego.

Today, most victims merely receive a post card from the police informing them that, unless they can think of any new leads, their case is dead.

For the detectives, the frustrations can be insurmountable. So the sergeants work hard to keep the investigators motivated.

“All we can ask them for is eight hours a day,” McCaskill said. “And I tell them that complaining about their caseload is like being in Alaska and complaining about the cold. Well, in Alaska it’s cold every day.”