The office of chief medical examiner, department of forensic biology, serves as the public forensic laboratory for the city of new york and provides DNA testing on thousands of case submissions…

This $1.23 million formula grant from the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance will fund DNA analysis services at the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner through September 2024. As part of the DNA Backlog Reduction Program (CFDA 16.741), grant funds will be used to process additional DNA samples, reduce turnaround times, and lower the case backlog. Specifically, the award will support overtime hours for staff, purchase of laboratory supplies, and continuation of positions funded by previous grants. The overall goals are to increase the office's DNA analysis capacity from 48,206 samples per year to 60,000, reduce the average turnaround time from 85 to 30 days, and lower the current backlog of 3,315 cases to 1,700. Timely DNA analysis helps law enforcement identify suspects, link unsolved cases to each other or convicted offenders, and resolve open investigations.

The office of chief medical examiner, department of forensic biology, serves as the public forensic laboratory for the city of new york and provides DNA testing on thousands of case submissions every year. In 2021 a total of 48,206 DNA samples were extracted, with STR profiles generated, analyzed, and reviewed. As a result, the department uploaded 6,238 profiles into codis. During the same year there were 301 cold hits to offender matches, 1,600 case-to-case matches and 646 conviction matches to better serve our customers in the criminal justice community the department of forensic biology's 2022 goals are to increase the current capacity and reduce the turnaround time and case backlog to 60 and 1,700, respectively. The lab has a current backlog of 3,315, at the time of this application, and an average year-to-date turnaround time of 85 for all case types. The department has made significant progress within the last couple years towards this goal but with the increased in cases received in the laboratory and a reduction in available analysts due to training and attrition, and the covid-19 pandemic, funding is needed to help process the additional cases. The FY2021 DNA capacity enhancement and backlog reduction (cerb) program proposal aims to achieve productivity and timeliness of DNA testing by focusing on the following actions: increase available staff hours through overtime. Purchase of supplies. Continue to fund previous grant-funded positions. Reduce backlog and turnaround times. IT is expected that overtime and continued staff will result in additional assignments process. The overall goal is to further reduce backlog and turnaround time in half within the 24 months of this grant period through process improvements and continued overtime and available supplies funding.