The tucson police department crime laboratory (tcdcl) DNA units backlog remains a concern due to the changing nature in demands for service and diminishing resources, including loss of qualified and…

The City of Tucson was awarded a $237,294 Formula Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance under the FY24 Comprehensive Forensic DNA Analysis Grant Program (CFDA 16.036). The grant will fund two Evidence Examination Specialist positions and one DNA Criminalist position in the Tucson Police Department Crime Laboratory's DNA Unit to help screen, sample, and analyze backlogged DNA cases, with a focus on violent crimes and crimes against persons. The grant will also fund the purchase of DNA extraction reagents to support the unit's DNA analysis work and entry of DNA profiles into CODIS. The award period is from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2026. This funding aims to increase the DNA unit's capacity and reduce their backlog of DNA cases, supporting the investigation and prosecution of violent crimes through the use of forensic DNA analysis.

The tucson police department crime laboratory (tcdcl) DNA units backlog remains a concern due to the changing nature in demands for service and diminishing resources, including loss of qualified and experienced staff.requests for service for all types of crimes have been affected by our court systems attempt to clear the backlog of cases awaiting trial stemming from covid-19 delays.without having been provided additional commensurate resources for the changing workload, cases with an ongoing public safety risk, crimes against persons, and cases going to trial are prioritized, in addition to processing all sexual assault kits as required by state legislation. The FY24 capacity enhancement for backlog reduction (cebr) grant will allow tpdcl to fund two evidence examination specialists (EES) assigned to the DNA unit and one DNA criminalist position, including salary and employee related expenses, to screen/sample and analyze backlogged DNA cases, respectively. The funding of these positions will contribute to increasing the capacity of the unit to provide forensic DNA services, as well as help the unit reduce the number of backlogged cases awaiting DNA analysis. IT is expected that each EES will screen/sample 110 cases consisting of approximately 550 items and the DNA criminalist will annually analyze 110 cases consisting of approximately 550 samples. These employees will focus on backlogged violent crimes and crimes against persons with the goal of obtaining DNA profiles eligible for entry into the combined DNA index system (codis). The FY24 cebr grant will fund the purchase of DNA extraction reagents to support the work of not only the cebr DNA criminalist casework but also other DNA criminalists. IT is expected that the FY24 cebr grant will help the laboratory decrease the DNA case backlog by increasing DNA staff and providing reagents to process DNA samples and enter them into codis.