WILMINGTON, Del. – U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons, and U.S. Representative John Carney announced more than $400,000 in Department of Justice funding for the state of Delaware to help the state’s medical examiner expedite a backlog in the processing of DNA evidence. The Department of Health and Social Services received $342,324 from the federal DNA Backlog Reduction Program, and the Criminal Justice Council received $58,186 from the Paul Coverdell Forensic Improvement Grant Program.
Delaware Health and Social Services Secretary Rita Landgraf; Delaware’s Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Richard Callery; and New Castle County Chief Prosecutor Joseph Grubb joined Senators Carper and Coons at the medical examiner’s office in Wilmington to make the announcement Thursday.
“I always say my role in the Senate is to work toward creating a nurturing environment – whether it be for job growth, job preservation, or for the government to run smoothly,” Senator Carper said. “These grant awards are a good example of taxpayer dollars being spent to give our law enforcement the resources they need to do a very important job. Reducing the DNA backlog and providing the Medical Examiner’s office with the proper resources is critical to their important work.”
“The timeliness and accuracy of DNA evidence processing in criminal cases has a direct impact on the delivery of justice in our courtrooms,” Senator Coons said. “Our labs must be able to keep pace with demand while maintaining the highest clinical standards. This federal funding will help the medical examiner’s office expedite unprocessed DNA evidence and prevent future backlogs, directly improving the delivery of justice here in Delaware. I’ve cosponsored two bills to help combat the backlog and strengthen our crime labs and fought last year to restore the program that made the bulk of this grant possible.”
“DNA technology is an important tool in today’s criminal justice system, and Delaware’s state and local law enforcement agencies deserve the resources and modern equipment to take full advantage of it,” Congressman Carney said. “Reducing wait times for DNA analysis will increase the state’s ability to efficiently solve crimes, and result in safer communities.”
The funding will help the medical examiner’s office purchase new equipment and hire additional trained personnel to process DNA evidence. In addition to facing increasing caseloads, modern DNA-processing technology is evolving quickly, stretching the capacity — and budgets — of crime labs.
About the DNA Backlog Reduction Program:
The objective of the DNA Backlog Reduction Program is to assist eligible states and units of local government to reduce forensic DNA sample turnaround time, increase the throughput of public DNA laboratories, and reduce DNA backlogs. These improvements are critical to preventing future DNA backlogs and to helping the criminal justice system use the full potential of DNA technology. Funds may be used:
About the Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program
Coverdell funds are to be used to improve the quality and timeliness of forensic science and medical examiner services and/or to eliminate backlogs in the analysis of forensic evidence, including controlled substances, firearms examination, forensic pathology, latent prints, questioned documents, toxicology, and trace evidence.
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