Philadelphia police's DNA lab facing backlog; victims' families worry it's delaying justice, impacting public safety. MWrightReports has the story.
In a statement, police say, “Based on current submission rates, the backlog of submissions awaiting DNA analysis is over 5,000 submissions. A backlog is defined as any submission that has been awaiting requested examinations for more than 30 days.”
“It’s frustrating because there’s so many murders. But it’s not just murders, it’s not just a one-size-fits-all situation,” Parker said. “But if you had more money for forensic testing and then more resources, I think that a lot of families would be able to see more arrests.” Police say in order to keep up with demand, the lab would need to be triple or quadruple the size it currently is, and its staff of 200 people would need to expand to at least 300.“There’s so many people who stay silent and don’t say anything and know who the perpetrators are,” Parker said. “And they are just as guilty as the people who pulled the trigger and killed my son.
Police did not comment specifically on the status of the Baylor investigation but say the crime lab is implementing new technology to process DNA samples faster and hiring more employees, but the training is extensive and the lab still is not at full capacity.