The union county prosecutors office forensic laboratory is requesting funding under the FY23 paul coverdell forensic science improvement grant program to improve the quality and timeliness of…

The County of Union, New Jersey is awarded a $228,476 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance to improve the quality and timeliness of forensic services provided by the Union County Prosecutors Office Forensic Laboratory. Funds will be used to replace two gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS) instruments in the laboratory's Controlled Dangerous Substances Section that are 15 to 25 years old and require frequent maintenance, leading to delays in processing seized drug evidence. The new, more sensitive GC/MS instruments will reduce re-runs and instrument downtime, improving the timeliness of forensic testing. This grant is awarded under the FY 2023 Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grant Program (CFDA 16.742), which supports initiatives to enhance the quality, timeliness, and capabilities of forensic science and medical examiner/coroner services.

The union county prosecutors office forensic laboratory is requesting funding under the FY23 paul coverdell forensic science improvement grant program to improve the quality and timeliness of service in thetwo forensic disciplines that the laboratory provides testing services. The laboratorys controlled dangerous substances section currently has three GC/msds that are between 15 and 25 years old. All require frequent maintenance and suffer from a loss of sensitivity that cause delays in the timeliness of service for testing of seized drugs. This means that there is significant instrument downtime and rerunning of samples with an increased injection volume that lead to increased turnaround time of cases. The laboratory is requesting funding to replace two of these instruments. New instruments would have increased sensitivity, ensuring that substances present in the sample are not missed on analysis, and will require less RE-runs of samples and downtime for maintenance.