Improving the Quality and Timeliness of Forensic Science in Massachusetts

The Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory (MSPCL) is a state government laboratory dedicated to providing excellence in service through quality forensic science. The Boston Police Department Crime Laboratory (BPD) and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) together with the MSPCL propose the following initiatives to reduce forensic case backlogs, to decrease turnaround time and to provide timelier forensic services.
The goal of this proposal it to : 1) Reduce case backlogs; 2) Increase capacity; and 3) train forensic examiners to provide more timely services to our clients.
To accomplish these goals, the following initiatives are proposed: 1) Overtime for the OCME staff to return backlogged evidence; 2)Training: To train members of the MSPCL and the Boston Police Department; 2) Equipment: To purchase a Agilent GC/MS system for the Trace/Arson and Explosives Unit of the MSPCL.
The anticipated outcome is that these collective initiatives will decrease the case backlog and turn around time of forensic examinations at the respective laboratories state-wide while increasing capacity at each agency. nca/ncf