Jefferson County Regional Crime Lab DNA Capactiy Enhancement and Backlog Reduction Program

The Jefferson County Regional Crime Laboratory (JCRCL) is the agency responsible for analyzing evidence from criminal investigations in Jefferson County, Lakewood, Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Golden, and other municipalities within Jefferson County, Colorado. The Forensic Biology section of the JCRCL is responsible for conducting serological examinations and DNA analysis on evidence collected from crime scenes from jurisdictions within Jefferson County.
The JCRCL is a newly established laboratory with the Forensic Biology section reaching ASCLD-LAB-International accreditation in March of 2015. The Forensic Biology section has purchased and validated most of the equipment required for serological examination and DNA analysis. The JCRCL has faced budget shortfalls while seeking to increase its DNA analysis capabilities. The federal funding from this award will allow the JCRCL Forensic Biology section to improve the DNA analysis capacity by increasing case throughput while reducing the turnaround time for completion of DNA cases. Additionally, this award will allow us to reduce the backlog of cases at the JCRCL. This award will specifically be used toward reaching the following goals:
1. Increase the DNA analysis case throughput of forensic biology cases.
2. Reduce the turnaround time for completion of forensic biology cases.
3. Reduce the backlog of forensic biology cases.
4. Provide all DNA analysts with required continuing education.
The Forensic Biology section of the JCRCL expects to reduce the turnaround time for completion of cases to 60 days or less, reduce the number of backlogged cases to 0, and increase the number of samples analyzed per analyst per month by 10% by using funds from this award.

nca/ncf.