Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grant-Wyoming State Crime Lab

The Wyoming State Crime Laboratory (WSCL) is the only accredited forensic lab in the State Of Wyoming. It is accredited through the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). All services provided to submitting agencies are done so at no cost. There are no other laboratories in Wyoming which provide confirmatory analysis in toxicology cases for the opioid/opiate drug classes. Law enforcement often relies on presumptive drug analysis or confirmed alcohol analysis for testing. There are challenges in continuing to address the increasing number of items for analysis while also attempting to expand the laboratory to provide services in toxicology for presumptive and confirmatory drug analysis. The expansion of the toxicology unit is due to the increase of drug submission, backlog and turnaround time for these submissions. The funds from this grant will be used to expand the services for toxicology for confirmatory drug analysis, provide toxicology and chemistry drug analysis through consumable supplies and certified/calibrated instrumentation, address the increased number of submissions and backlog for analysis with a decreased turnaround time for completed analysis by providing overtime for the forensic analysts and to improve technology and success associated with latent print imaging/enhancement. The chemistry and toxicology unit will expand the services for the opioid/opiate analysis with these supplies. Toxicology and chemistry will expand services for additional confirmatory analysis to match the increases in submissions and either decrease or maintain the backlog and turnaround time for analysis completion. Toxicology will use these consumables for presumptive drug screening and for expanding the confirmatory analysis of opioid/opiates to address the increasing trend of submissions in this drug class. The outcome of this grand funding will expand toxicology confirmatory drug analysis, address the increase of toxicology presumptive drug analysis, addresses the increase in chemistry analysis and measure submissions in conjunction with the backlog and turnaround time for analysis. Additionally, overtime funding is requested for non-opioid and non-synthetic drug related units such as firearms, latent prints, blood pattern interpretation and impressions. These units are indirectly related to the cases involving opioid/opiates and synthetic drugs since those are the vast majority of case submissions.