No Suspect Casework DNA Backlog Reduction Program FY 2001

Project Summary for 2002-DN-BX-K007

DNA analysis used in conjunction with the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) is powerful investigative tool beginning at the crime scene with the collection of evidence and ending with a judicial conclusion. For CODIS to be truly effective and DNA to reach its full potential, aiding the criminal justice system in solving crimes, DNA databases must be populated with both offender profiles and DNA profiles from crime scene evidence. DNA is especially useful in cases where no suspect is known. DNA profiles obtained from evidence collected in cases where there is no suspect can be compared to local, State, and national DNA databases through CODIS for a match between the evidence and a convicted felon.

The New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety will examine 420 no suspect cases using federal funding to pay for overtime and contracts for outsourcing. DNA analysis will be performed within the New Jersey State Police Crime Laboratory and by outsourcing to private vendors. The resulting DNA profiles will be entered into the forensic index section of their State DNA database to be compared to convicted offender indices. Perhaps 10% or more of these forensic profiles from unsolved crimes will find their solutions in the DNA profiles of the convicted offender samples currently populating CODIS.

ca/ncf