WHEREAS, DNA technology has revolutionized forensic identification, and the ability to assist with identifying the guilty and exonerating the innocent; and

WHEREAS, significant backlogs, often stretching into months, of DNA analysis exist in many crime laboratories; and

WHEREAS, funding is available to outsource those analyses to reputable private laboratories in order to obtain a DNA profile in a reasonable length of time; and

WHEREAS, the results of those analyses by independent, private laboratories must be reviewed by an analyst in a public, law enforcement crime laboratory in order to meet the FBI Quality Assurance Standards Case Review protocol before being uploaded into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS); and

WHEREAS, this review and verification is a very time-consuming and redundant process that consumes a great deal of laboratory analysis time; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED that the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) strongly recommends that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reexamine its policies with respect to DNA analyses performed by private laboratories who meet all DAB and accreditation standards of public laboratories and permit the public crime laboratory to directly enter the results obtained from the private laboratory without performing a complete case review/verification.

Submitted by: Forensics Committee

FOR.002.a07