{"id":4321,"date":"2026-08-02T06:19:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T06:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lajmmsot.com\/?p=4321"},"modified":"2026-08-02T06:19:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T06:19:14","slug":"nje-tjeter-metode-e-zbulimit-te-vrasjeve-te-dyshimta-si-po-e-perdor-policia-ne-shba-fuqine-e-podkasteve-per-gjetjen-e-krimineleve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lajmmsot.com\/?p=4321","title":{"rendered":"Another method of uncovering suspicious murders, how police in the US are using the power of podcasts to find criminals"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Peter Chadwick had been on the run for nearly four years, accused of killing his wife, when California police launched a podcast about the crime. He was captured in Mexico 10 months and 20 days later.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Karen Schepers had been missing for more than four decades when another police force, in Illinois, aired the first episode of a podcast last year about the unsolved case, and her body was found at the bottom of a river within weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now Colorado investigators are hoping to bring back elusive clues to a 10-year-old unsolved murder. The Aurora Police Department (APD) released its own podcast this summer in an effort to achieve justice for Chelsea Yasser, 21, who was found stabbed to death in a shopping mall parking lot in 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

As the true-crime content giant continues to thrive, police departments across the U.S. and abroad are turning to podcast production for help in solving unsolved murder cases and other investigations.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The true crime genre \u2014 whether it’s television, podcasts, books \u2014 I mean, it’s incredibly popular. And we absolutely were intentional in trying to tap into that broader audience,”<\/span><\/em>\u00a0said Joe Moylan, public information officer for the Aurora Police Department.<\/span><\/p>\n

The phenomenon is still in its early stages and brings its own benefits and risks, but experts believe the trend will grow.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Getty<\/p>\n

“I think it’s a tool that everyone will eventually embrace. True crime podcasts can broadcast inaccurate information, but that way the police get to check what’s out there and look for new information ,\u00a0<\/span><\/em>“<\/span><\/em>\u00a0said Michael Alcazar, a retired NYPD detective and associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it’s rarer for podcasts produced by police departments to focus on unsolved cases and solicit tips, as departments in California, Colorado and Illinois have done.<\/span><\/p>\n

Police programs are episodic in nature, outlining crimes, victims, and investigations with a narrative style and interesting details, in the same way that the innovative true crime podcast Serial did when it debuted in 2014.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Aurora, police hoped to produce a podcast that would be equally engaging, and would encourage listeners to come forward with any relevant information.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chelsea Yasser’s murder has been described by podcasters as the “White Whale,” famous for Moby Dick, given how long it has haunted investigators.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yasser was stabbed to death after getting into a vehicle that had stopped in a parking lot, and she collapsed moments after getting out. Blurry surveillance footage captured the van swaying as the attack took place, but the images were not clear enough to make out a face, and DNA found under her fingernails did not match anyone in the system.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Getty<\/p>\n

As the APD released the podcast in June, detectives were testing DNA using new forensic genealogy technology, and the program updated listeners about other new lines of investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The department has appealed for information on Yasser’s murder before, but the podcast could cast a much wider net for witnesses and informants, Moylan says.<\/span><\/p>\n

“If you hadn’t been watching the news the night it happened, or if you hadn’t picked up a newspaper, you might not have known anything about this case, so we wanted to reach out to that broader audience. Assuming the suspect is still alive and out there, he could be anywhere in the country.”\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The podcast had been downloaded 7,184 times by the end of July, according to the APD, providing some clues, including one that investigators continue to follow. Most departments don’t have the staff, budget or time needed to produce podcast content, nor do they have the necessary equipment or expertise.<\/span><\/p>\n

Others hesitate for fear of repercussions, lawsuits and civil liability, says retired detective Alcazar.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Elgin<\/p>\n

In California, the Newport Beach Police Department’s podcast about fugitive Chadwick, for example, was not without controversy. The millionaire was introduced to viewers in Episode 1 as “a man who murdered his wife in the peaceful seaside community of Newport Beach, California, in October 2012.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Chadwick had been charged and pleaded not guilty, but was not tried, however the podcast did not use the word “suspect” and called the millionaire a “murderer”.<\/span><\/p>\n

Critics argued that this conflicted with the parameters of innocence before guilt and that the police’s job was to investigate, not adjudicate.<\/span><\/p>\n

The podcast was produced and hosted by public information officer Jennifer Manzella, who defended the choice at the time, saying that police “issued the same types of statements all the time.”<\/span><\/p>\n

She told\u00a0<\/span>BBC News<\/span><\/a>\u00a0that she was trying to balance telling the story in an engaging way without compromising the investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n

After Chadwick’s arrest in August 2019, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison \u2013 where he remains.<\/span><\/p>\n

Manzella says it wasn’t direct information from the podcast that led to his capture, but it definitely helped because it put pressure on Chadwick while he was on the run, making him more prone to making mistakes.<\/span><\/p>\n

And investigators managed to obtain arrest warrants and extraditions “in record time” because of the awareness, the podcast reached 24th place on the iTunes list.<\/span><\/p>\n

After the podcast, and Chadwick’s capture, she received calls from other departments and agencies interested in producing something similar.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, as other departments face budget and resource issues, there is a consensus that podcasts as an investigative tool will be seen more often.<\/span><\/p>\n

If police departments can find the staff to support it, podcasts can help both recruit and retain staff, says Janice Iwama, an associate professor in the department of justice, law and criminology at American University. It gives listeners a chance to learn more about what policing is really like, from the mouths of officers on the job.<\/span><\/p>\n

Generational change could also fuel this trend, says retired NYPD detective Alcazar, because younger police officers will be more willing to embrace the opportunities offered by podcasts and social media.<\/span><\/p>\n

“This is their world. This is what they feel most comfortable with<\/span><\/em>\u00a0,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peter Chadwick had been on the run for nearly four years, accused of killing his wife, when California police launched a podcast about the crime. He was captured in Mexico 10 months and 20 days later. Karen Schepers had been missing for more than four decades when another police force, in Illinois, aired the first … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lajm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lajmmsot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lajmmsot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lajmmsot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lajmmsot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lajmmsot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4321"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lajmmsot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4323,"href":"https:\/\/lajmmsot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4321\/revisions\/4323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lajmmsot.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lajmmsot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lajmmsot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lajmmsot.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}