FY 2002 Crime Lab Improvement Program

• NCJ Number: 211761
• Author(s): Thomas Hanley
• Date Published: October 2005
• Length: 14 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2003-LP-CX-K030
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Award: NIJ Crime Laboratory Improvement Program

Annotation

This final report on the Crime Lab Improvement Program (CLIP) of the Middlebury Police Department (Vermont) describes the achievements of the long-term, multiphase effort to develop an in-house lab for handling and processing the bulk of evidence recovered at crime scenes.

Abstract

The objective of phase I (1992-2002) was to increase the Middlebury Police Department's (MPD's) ability to collect and process evidence in criminal investigations and reduce the need to submit specimens to other labs. An ancillary effect was to provide assistance to other area rural agencies in processing latent print evidence so as to reduce the submission of evidence in minor cases to the State lab. Phase I was completed according to plan. Phase II (2002-2005) objectives were to reduce the backlog of local and regional evidence processing and MPD's reliance on the State lab, thereby reducing the backlog of evidence to be processed by the State lab. Another phase II objective was to enhance and expand the capability of the MPD to process evidence. These objectives were achieved. Phase III, which was conducted during the same period as phase II (2002-2005) involved the construction of a new laboratory with appropriate space and health and safety features. In 2004, a new police facility was constructed that included a four-room laboratory with cold storage, long-term evidence storage, and two examination rooms. Phase IV (2004-2006), which is in progress, involves the following acquisitions: advanced technical equipment for crime-scene processing and documentation, computers and equipment for the lab, and a crime-scene mobile vehicle for command and control and field processing/examination. All stated goals and objectives of the CLIP program have been achieved, and the Town of Middlebury has demonstrated a commitment to the overall project by providing local funding since 1992 and continuing beyond CLIP into 2006.