Dutch inmates help solve mystery murders – the police distributed calendars to prisons across the Netherlands. Each week of the calendar features the photograph of a murder victim or a missing person, as well as details about the case. The pilot program started in January and was already a small success. Two out of the 52 cases could be reopened due to tip-offs from inmates.
Research shows that inmates know a lot about other crimes as people in prison talk about the crimes they committed. They are allowed to make the tip-offs anonymously. A spokesman of the Dutch police says the victims in the calendar are all innocent people. Prisoners have their pride and their own codes and there is no respect for people who kill innocent women and children.
The program was inspired by a similar one in the United States where inmates were given decks of cards with details about cold cases. The Netherlands has about 1,500 unsolved cases, classified as cold cases. The 52 that were chosen for the calendar were cases the public found particularly shocking. 30,000 copies of the calendar were distributed to Dutch inmates in different languages to reach as many people as possible.
Dutch (dʌtʃ) – holländisch, niederländisch
inmate (ˈɪnmeɪt) – der Insasse
to solve (sɒlv) – etw lösen, aufklären
to distribute (dɪˈstrɪbju:t) – etw verteilen, aufteilen
across (əˈkrɒs) – über (across town – über die ganze Stadt)
to feature (ˈfi:tʃəʳ) – etw aufweisen, jdn/etw zeigen, ausstellen
case (keɪs) – der (Rechts)fall
to reopen (ˌri:ˈəʊpən) – etw wieder eröffnen, wieder aufmachen
tip-off (tɪp-ɒf) – der Wink, der Hinweis
research (rɪˈsɜ:tʃ) – die Forschung
crime (kraɪm) – das Verbrechen
to commit (kəˈmɪt) – etw begehen
to allow (əˈlaʊ) – etw erlauben, etw ermöglichen
spokesman (ˈspəʊksmæn) – der Sprecher, der Pressesprecher
innocent (ˈɪnəsənt) – unschuldig
pride (praɪd) – der Stolz
similar (ˈsɪmɪləʳ) – ähnlich
to classify (ˈklæsɪfaɪ) – etw einordnen, klassifizieren
particularly (pɑ:ˈtɪkjələli) – besonders, vor allem