Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2002, $140,556)
Project Summary for 2002-LT-BX-K004
Accerditation of forensic laboratories in the United States is viewed as an important process to assure that valid and reliable forensic analyses are provided to the criminal justice system. The Crime Laboratory Accreditation Program of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB) is a voluntary program in which any crime laboratory may participate to demonstrate that its management, operation, personnel, equipment, physical plant, security, and health and safety procedures meet established standards.
A primary component of the ASCLD/LAB accreditation process is the laboratory inspection by volunteers from other ASCLD/LAB accredited laboratories. However, because of the growing number of laboratories requesting accreditation, it is anticipated that there will soon be and insufficient pool of volunteers to perform the inspections without reducing the quality. To address this shortage, ASCLD/LAB currently has thre paid inspectors and will be hiring additional inspectors in order to meet the projected needs. This award will provide the funds needed to support the ASCLD/LAB Board of Directors meetings in 2002 and 2003. This support will allow ASCLD/LAB to use the funds normally allocated for this purpose to instead hire additional paid laboratory inspectors and in turn maintain the quality and promptness of the inspection process.
ca/ncf