FY 2022 Paul Coverdell - KSP

The six Kentucky State Police Laboratories provide all forensic lab services to the entire Commonwealth. While there are a variety of Crime Scene Units at local law enforcement agencies, there are no other providers of forensic laboratory services to the criminal justice community in Kentucky. Continuous improvement is a real goal for the KSP Laboratories and education, training and exposure to new technology are critical for success. Funds are requested for training of laboratory staff, including necessary training to maintain certification of analysts. Due to low salaries, high staff turnover has been an issue. While the salary issue has been remedied, there are many new analysts and new supervisors who will benefit from training. Online training is requested in the area of project management for Technical Leaders struggling with multiple validation projects. Also requested are funds that will upgrade and add to our Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) and purchase of instrumentation to assist in preparation of bone and tissue samples for DNA extraction.