FY15 DNA Capacity Enhancement and Backlog Reduction Program- Denver Police Department

The Denver Police Department (DPD) Crime Laboratory serves the City and County of Denver by using forensic technology to solve crime, thereby increasing public safety. The DPD Crime Laboratory DNA and Forensic Biology (DNA/FBIO) units seek federal support to achieve three goals: 1) To reduce the number of cases backlogged throughout the FY2015 grant period, 2) To increase laboratory capacity for DNA analysis by the purchase of a high capacity liquid handling robot and, 3) To fulfill continuing education requirements specified in the DNA Quality Assurance Standards for five DNA/FBIO analysts and staff.

The laboratory will meet these goals by way of the following objectives: 1) Provide forensic scientist overtime to support the forensic biology examination and in-house DNA processing, interpretation and review of 100 backlogged cases, 2) Purchase the Hamilton STARlet 8 Autoload automated system to perform extraction, quantification and PCR set-ups and, 3) Provide training opportunities for five FBIO/DNA analysts and staff to meet their 2016 required continued education requirements specified in the FBI Quality Assurance Standards for Forensic DNA Testing Laboratories.

By implementing these measures, the DPD Crime Laboratory will target a significant backlog of all case types (including property crimes, sexual assaults and homicides) and comply with national quality assurance standards regarding continuing education

nca/ncf.