Inspector general says FBI laboratory’s backlog is clearing up on 1 front, growing on another

DNA backlog clears on 1 front, grows on another

WASHINGTON — The FBI’s laboratory is clearing up a backlog of DNA testing for convicted offenders, but the lab has fallen behind evaluating forensic DNA collected from crime scenes and victims, the Justice Department’s inspector general said Monday.

The mixed report card on the FBI lab comes the month before the FBI anticipates it will eliminate a backlog of DNA cases involving convicted offenders that topped 300,000 last year.

The FBI lab has put automated processes in place to analyze the samples and has assigned more people to the task.

The backlog is due to federal legislation that expanded the scope of DNA sample collection from violent convicted federal offenders to include anyone who commits a federal offense as well as non-U.S. citizens detained in the United States.

On the second front, the lab has a backlog of more than 3,200 forensic DNA cases, Inspector General Glenn Fine reported.

Such testing is more complex, takes more time and cannot be automated to the same degree as testing convicted offender samples.

The forensic DNA work is especially critical because state and local agencies that do not have a forensic laboratory send cases for forensic examination to the FBI lab.

Backlogs on the forensic front can delay legal proceedings and prevent the timely capture of criminals.

As of March 2010, more than 2,700 cases were backlogged at the lab’s Nuclear DNA Unit, up almost 40 percent from last year; and at the Mitochondrial DNA Unit, the backlog was almost 500 cases, up 130 percent from last year.

The Nuclear DNA Unit examines biological fluid. The Mitochondrial DNA Unit tests hair fragments, bones and teeth.

The FBI will address the backlog by bringing on board 17 additional forensic examiners.

However, hiring and training the new personnel could take significant time.