Five states participate in DNA policy improvement project
Florida, Kentucky, New York, Ohio and Washington are participating in a program aimed at improving states’ policies on forensic DNA analysis. Sponsored by the Washington-based National Governor’s Association’s (NGA) Center for Best Practices, the “Improving Forensic DNA Policy Project” aims to provide states with methods to reduce backlogs of unanalyzed DNA samples at state labs, and to find other funding in preparation for the 2009 end of federal funding that supports lab operations.
During the year-long project, representatives from the governors’ offices, crime labs, law enforcement agencies, prosecuting attorneys and legislatures will design policies that will expand DNA databases to include evidence from high-volume crimes, missing persons cases and unidentified human remains. More information on the project is available at www.nga.org/center/sewp.