As the metropolitan area of colorado springs has grown 3.7 percent in the last 5 years, so has the workload of the colorado springs police department metro crime laboratory (MCL)

The Colorado Springs City Government's Police Division received a $243,744 Formula Grant award from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance under the Comprehensive Forensic DNA Analysis Grant Program (CFDA 16.036). The grant funding supports the Colorado Springs Police Department Metro Crime Laboratory (MCL) in enhancing its DNA analysis capabilities to reduce processing backlogs and improve forensic efficiency. Specifically, the grant has maintained three DNA analyst positions that are critical for increasing the MCL's processing capacity and decreasing turnaround times for Combined DNA Index System (CODIS)-eligible samples. The grant funding has also enabled the addition of a new DNA analyst in 2022 and the increase of a part-time analyst to 0.75 full-time in 2023, helping to process 21 backlogged DNA cases last year. Given budget cuts facing the Colorado Springs Police Department, this Formula Grant is instrumental in sustaining the MCL's progress in decreasing its DNA case backlog.

The MCL currently employs a total of six DNA analysts, which is a small workforce for a laboratory serving an area larger than the city and county of denver and having a similar number in population. Three full-time analysts are paid through city of colorado springs general funds, and two full-time and one .75 full-time analysts are funded by capacity enhancement for backlog reduction (cebr) DNA formula grants. The cebr DNA formula grants have been instrumental in maintaining these three DNA analyst positions that are critical for the MCL to increase processing capacity and decreasing turnaround times for the combined DNA index system (codis) eligible samples. A new grant-funded analyst in 2022 and increasing a grant-funded part-time analyst to .75 full-time in 2023 has helped net 21 DNA cases that were in backlog and processed last year, a small improvement but important in creating momentum. With the city of colorado springs currently experiencing budget cuts to all departments, including the police department, the cebr DNA formula grant is very important to maintain the momentum of decreasing the backlog of DNA cases at the MCL.