Reduction of DNA backlog

San Diego is the eighth largest city in the United States, with a population of approximately 1.42 million. The Crime Laboratory serves the approximately 1,900 sworn members of the Police Department. DNA remains a vitally important part of the investigators’ approach to their casework, as evidenced by the dramatic increase in the number of submitted DNA laboratory requests. The DNA Unit completed approximately 1,111 cases in 2023, a nearly 444 percent increase from the 250 cases analyzed in 2000. Approximately 633 DNA requests were received in the laboratory in 2023 (which does not include the approximate 700 cases waiting for evidence processing). As detectives are used to receiving highly relevant information from our Criminalists, and as those same detectives endure their own staffing shortages and overwhelming workloads, more and more items are submitted for analysis in the hopes of providing investigative leads. The successes the lab has with probabilistic genotyping mixture interpretation have generated a significantly higher number of Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) searchable profiles, providing our customers with useful information that previously was not obtainable. Without grant funding to supply current instrumentation, overtime funding, additional staffing, and training, the laboratory would not be able to meet the needs of the residents of San Diego effectively. These grant funds will be utilized to meet the increased demands for sexual assault evidence examination and continue to employ consistently high case productivity while decreasing turnaround times. This will happen with a combination of overtime funding, support staff funding, additional instruments, and additional training for our analysts.