EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) -
New figures out Wednesday night from EPD show nearly half of all violent felonies reported in Evansville were not investigated in a calendar year.
But police say don't blame them, blame the victims of those violent crimes.
You would think that when a victim is shot or robbed at gunpoint, he or she would want police to catch the persons responsible, but surprisingly, that's not always the case.
When a victim refuses to cooperate, police say their investigation falls dead in it's tracks.
"I just don't think people realize how often we are stonewalled and we don't get what we need to put a case file together and get people locked up," said EPD PIO Sgt. Jason Cullum.
Cullum drives through neighborhoods, where in 2010, he says violent felonies weren't investigated because the victims refused to cooperate and signed a prosecution waiver, ending the investigation.
"Out of the 255 violent felonies, there were 108 cases where the victim refused to cooperate with investigators," Cullum told 14 News.
That means 42% of all potential suspects were never caught and may still be armed and out on the streets.
"We are out there trying our best to get these cases solved and get these suspects locked up. There's different reasons why these victims don't want to cooperate but a lot of time people have this perception that it falls back onto our lap.
This past weekend, police say two men were shot outside a home along Taylor Street. Cullum says both men signed the waivers and refused to help in the investigation.
So Cullum says the shooters and their guns remain free, with the possibility that they'll shoot again.
"When we're only given so much information and then we're not getting any help, once we find the person you told us to look for, there's really not a lot we can do."
Cullum says, even when a waiver is signed, state prosecutors can choose to file charges, which allows police to continue the investigation.
He says that happened earlier this week when a man was arrested for allegedly pointing a shotgun at members of a tree-trimming crew. The crew had refused to cooperate with police.
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