FY2017 DNA Capacity Enhancement Program - Columbus Police Crime Laboratory

City of Columbus Division of Police Forensic Services Center DNA Backlog Reduction Project 2017 seeks to enact improvements that will enable the crime laboratory to process DNA samples efficiently and effectively thereby reducing the backlog of DNA cases awaiting analysis.

The Columbus Division of Police Forensic Services Center has gone through a period of adjustment in recent years. In 2015 we moved to a new laboratory which enabled us to add additional staff, equipment, and procedures. However, we also had a large backlog of cases that had accumulated prior to our expansion and continued to grow while we were focused on training and validations. Now our laboratory is fully staffed, but we are still working on reducing our backlog of cases and reducing our turnaround time. We also still have several validations in process. This grant's objectives will complement those from past DNA Backlog Reduction Program grants and will provide funding necessary to address the backlog of cases that has resulted from years of limited resources.

Federal funding from this award will be used for the following goals:

1. Reduce the forensic DNA case backlog by purchasing supplies for DNA casework.

2. Provide the required continuing education for analysts.

The City of Columbus Division of Police Forensic Services Center can expect to reduce the DNA case backlog by at least 400 cases by the end of the award period. The turnaround time is expected to be reduced to 90 days or less, and the analyst throughput in the casework sections is expected to increase to 60 samples per month per analyst.

nca/ncf