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AGENCY TESTIMONY
Forensic Biology Laboratory achievements and gun crimes unit
3:43:31
ยท
127 sec
Dr. Graham highlights the achievements of OCME's Department of Forensic Biology, which operates the largest public DNA crime laboratory in North America.
- The lab received more than 10,000 cases over the past year
- It maintains responsiveness to urgent requests from the criminal justice system
- More than half the cases handled involve gun violence
- The DNA gun crimes unit, formed in 2022, consistently achieves a 30-day turnaround time for testing evidence in gun crime cases
- The lab undertook the largest quality control review in its history, addressing limited instances of cross-contamination detected in late summer
Jason Graham
3:43:31
Beyond forensic pathology, OCME is home to world class, fully accredited laboratories that support our mission at the intersection of public health and justice.
3:43:41
Staffing levels at our laboratories remain strong thanks to prior investments in personnel and equipment, allowing our hundreds of dedicated forensic scientists to stay accountable to the public for timely and accurate testing results.
3:43:53
Despite the sustained increase in case loads, our laboratories continue to perform at a consistently high level and set the standard in innovation.
3:44:01
Our Department of Forensic Biology operates the largest public DNA crime laboratory in North America, analyzing evidence submitted from cases across the five boroughs.
3:44:11
The impartial findings of the laboratory help to convict the guilty and exonerate the innocent.
3:44:16
Over the past year, the lab received more than 10,000 cases, onboarded and trained new analysts, and pursued cold case and post conviction work, all the while remaining responsive to urgent requests from the criminal justice system such as our expedited efforts to analyze evidence from the scene of the fatal shooting of a CEO in Midtown this past December.
3:44:37
More than half the cases handled by our DNA laboratory involve gun violence.
3:44:42
Our first in the nation DNA gun crimes unit formed in 2022 has consistently reached its goal of a thirty day turnaround time for testing evidence in gun crime cases, the fastest of any major jurisdiction in the country.
3:44:55
Accelerated testing of gun crime evidence helps to process cases more rapidly in the criminal justice system and informs work to address the urgent public health issue of gun violence affecting our communities.
3:45:06
The lab maintained this strong performance while undertaking the largest quality control review in its history, launched when our robust internal systems detected limited instances of cross contamination in examined evidence in late summer of last year.
3:45:22
As our comprehensive review winds down, I can report that the retrospective evaluation has found no deleterious impact on the outcome of cases in the criminal justice system, and we'll continue to keep stakeholders updated because accountability is a core value at the OCME.