Lab Marks A Leap Forward

The Escambia Country Sheriff’s Office in Florida has a new crime laboratory that has allowed it to significantly expand its capabilities for collecting evidence.

Previously, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) lab in Pensacola would handle all lab work for the department beyond applying powder to detect fingerprints, but now with $114,000 in renovations, the office has access to equipment such as a Crime Scope and chemical processes that allow professionals to locate tiny bits of blood and other clues as evidence.

The FDLE facility is overloaded with cases, according to sources. Jan Johnson, who has spent a total of three decades with the FDLE and FBI, explains that the department will now be able to send evidence to the FDLE lab with some indication of DNA and other evidence, making for a more efficient process.

“We can get results quicker, and that will lead to faster arrests,” she says.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Pensacola News Journal (01/27/03) P. 1C; Smith, Sean .