State of Colorado 2017 Coverdell Grant program

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation Forensic Services (CBIFS) proposes grant funds for the purpose of ensuring and improving the quality of laboratory services by keeping their accreditation certificate active, paying for all proficiency tests per section 5.9.b under the accreditation standards as well as Quality Procedure (QP) 25 in their own CBIFS Quality Manual. They will also support the technical quality and new efficiency processes through training by sending eight (8) scientists and lab managers to the 2018 American Academy of Forensic Sciences Annual Meeting.

To continue providing high quality customer service to the City and County of Denver, the Crime Laboratory will provide advanced training to forensic scientists; renew the ISO 17025:2005 accreditation; and purchase new equipment for the Office of the Medical Examiner which will increase efficiency and promote safer, cleaner lab conditions.

Combined, these efforts will help maintain the average turnaround time for delivering test results at the Office of the Medical Examiner and will help increase the number of forensic scientists attending training in the Denver Police Crime Lab. The Colorado Springs’ Metro Crime Laboratory (MCL) provides forensic services for the Colorado Springs Police Department, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office, and the El Paso County Coroner's Office. The MCL is staffed in the forensic disciplines of chemistry, latent fingerprint identification, firearms examination, DNA analysis, and crime scene investigation. Forensic sciences undergo changes as new technologies and methods emerge allowing for better analysis of evidentiary items.

It is paramount that the MCL forensic staff is trained to meet current industry standards in each discipline. To maintain and develop forensic capacity, the forensic staff cross-trains in several forensic disciplines. Training and continuing education is a mandated component in the accreditation and reaccreditation process. Funding requested under this grant will provide MCL staff with necessary training in their respective forensic discipline.

nca/ncf