By Susan McFarland
Corpus Christi Caller-Times
Corpus Christi crime scene investigators no longer will have to wait months for fingerprint results.
The department now is certified to do its own testing again.
The department did those tests in house until September 2005, when a law went into effect requiring all public crime labs to be accredited.
Since then, crime scene tests such as fingerprints or tool marks were sent to a Texas Department of Public Safety lab. It typically took three to six months for results to be returned.
After four years of preparation, the Corpus Christi Police Department’s Crime Lab on Tuesday received an accreditation certificate from the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board. The department received permission Dec. 3 to start doing latent fingerprint exams, firearms and crime scene testing. On Jan. 12, the lab was certified to conduct examinations of tool marks at crime scenes.
“This is a huge achievement,” Interim Chief Mike Walsh said. “We no longer have to take evidence to DPS. We can do it in house. This benefits the police department and the community.”
Walsh said conducting tests in house provides results, some as soon as the same day, giving investigators and the district attorney’s office necessary tools to prosecute cases promptly.
Corpus Christi’s department is one of eight in Texas with the accreditation and one of about 20 city departments nationwide.
The national accreditation program began in the early 1980s when a lot of labs were not performing up to standards, Ralph Keaton, executive director of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board.
The certification ensures the crime lab’s procedures meet the accreditation board’s standards.
As part of the accreditation, inspectors review every aspect of the lab’s operations including training programs, files, operating procedures, safety standards, laboratory equipment, document control, evidence storage, security, qualifications, and training and experience of the department’s crime scene investigators and examiners.
“Everyone measured up,” Keaton said.
John Hornsby, forensic service supervisor, said the accreditation is just the beginning because the lab will undergo on-site inspections every five years in order to maintain its status.
Copyright 2009 SCRIPPS Howard Publications