Staff Writer Jose Quintero's Sunday story on Barstow cold cases was quite an eye-opener. The Barstow Police Department, like most law enforcement agencies in California, continues to investigate murder cases that are decades old.
The hope is that officers can bring criminals to justice and provide closure for victims' families. It's bad enough that they have suffered the loss of a loved one, but it only adds to families' pain when they realize the person or persons responsible for that loss may never see the inside of a prison cell.
We commend all law enforcement agencies — the Barstow Police Department, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department and others — for dedicating resources to cold cases. We were heartened to hear Barstow detectives say cold cases are always hot cases, meaning that they work on them constantly.
While it would be easy for victims' families to wonder if anyone cares years after the slaying of their loved ones, clearly Barstow detectives do. We're sure that's the case with the Sheriff's Department and other law enforcement officers too.
Men and women become cops primarily to keep the public safe. But a big part of their job is bringing criminals to justice, particularly those who take a life. For detectives, the importance of that aspect of the job is magnified.
Detectives must use all their investigative skills when working on cold cases. Barstow detectives told Quintero they frequently work as a team on the cases. When one lead comes to a dead end, they'll "work backward" on the case until they hit another dead end. It's a never-ending puzzle involving clues, evidence and leads.
The frustrating thing for many detectives is they know there usually are people in the community with knowledge of a case that might crack it open.
But getting people to come forward to provide that information isn't always easy. Sometimes people are scared, and sometimes they may not realize they know something that might help in an investigation.
We hope High Desert residents will remember that we all play a role in keeping our communities safe and in catching criminals. If you know something about a cold case, or any criminal case, we hope you'll call your local sheriff's station or the Barstow Police Department.
Here are some phone numbers and a website to help you do so: Sheriff's Homicide Detail, 909-387-3589; Barstow Police Department, 760-256-2211