DNA Backlog Cleared: Top Cop

Unlike most every television crime drama, DNA testing will still take weeks to analyze.

California criminals beware: you can no longer cling to the hope that evidence with your DNA on it will be caught in a web of backlogged cases.

Attorney General Kamala Harris says the California Department of Justice has now cleared the decks of all backlogged cases. She said this is the first time in the history of the Bureau of Forensic Services to have all evidence tested.

From now on, Harris said DNA crime scene evidence will be analyzed within 30 days. That is down from the 90 to 120 days it used to take.

Harris said that crime scene evidence is too important to sit for months while the victims wait for justice.

"DNA testing is a powerful law enforcement resource - a smart on crime tool that we're using in cutting edge ways in California," Harris said.

Harris says DNA testing became a top priority in 2011.

The state's data bank contains DNA profiles for 1.8 million criminals and suspects in California, as well as crime scene evidence. It is the largest working DNA data bank in the United States and the fourth largest in the world, according to the attorney general.

 

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