State and local officials are calling on lawmakers to support a proposal from the Walz administration that would increase funding for the state’s crime labs.
The goal of the additional funding is to cut the turnaround time for processing DNA evidence from roughly 142 to 30 days.
St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry says timing is crucial when it comes to solving crimes, and the difference of 112 days will seriously help law enforcement solve more than just the most heinous offenses.
“DNA is a tool. We have a lot of tools we need, and when we can make those tools work more effectively and faster, it impacts every other crime out there, not just the most serious ones,” Henry said.
The Governor’s budget would also increase the number of forensic scientists the state has to handle the increased volume of cases in recent years and a persistent backlog.
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi spoke about the funding, saying there seems to be less cooperation from victims and witnesses in criminal cases these days. He says this makes forensics testing all the more important.
“With additional capacity at the lab, just our ability to solve cases is going to improve,” Choi said.
Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans says the legislation would do more than just find criminals who have committed crimes, as DNA is also used to clear offenders of crimes they did not commit.
“Especially in those cases when it’s most valuable is when we have an unknown perpetrator, regardless of the type of crime. It can lead us to that with the different convicted offender database that we have available to often lead to [identifying] the perpetrator.” Henry said. “Part of the reason it’s so important, as we said in our comments, is it often clears people.”
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