State of Michigan Forensic Science Improvement Grant FY18

The Michigan State Police (MSP) requests FY 2018 Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program formula funding to improve the quality and timeliness of service delivery in the MSP Forensic Science Division (FSD) as well as the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO).

The requested funding will be used to continue payroll support for two-grant funded positions in the MSP FSD Firearms and Controlled Substances units to improve throughput and turnaround time and for backlog reduction efforts Division-wide.

The MSP FSD is also requesting grant funding for the purchase of equipment in the form of hand held drug analyzers and a gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The analyzer is a hand held Raman system for rapid identification of suspected narcotics without direct contact for most samples. A single test for multiple controlled substances provides law enforcement with clear, definitive results for presumptive identification. GC/MS is the analysis method of choice for smaller and volatile molecules such as benzenes, alcohols and aromatics, and simple molecules such as steroids, fatty acids, and hormones.

The OCSO also requests funding to improve the quality and timeliness of service delivery in the Forensic Science Laboratory's Firearms and Chemistry units. The requested funding will be used by the OCSO to continue payroll support for a grant funded firearms examiner and to hire and train an additional forensic toxicology chemist to assist the OCSO in its efforts to decrease backlogs and turnaround times in these disciplines.

nca/ncf