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CONSIDERATION OF A NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE (NIJ) 2016 CAPACITY ENHANCEMENT AND BACKLOG REDUCTION PROGRAM GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF $311,341 FOR NEW DNA LABORATORY INSTRUMENTATION.
Presented by: Dr. Timothy Rohrig, Director, Regional Forensic Science Center.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approve the application for the grant, and if awarded authorize acceptance of the grant, the establishment of budget authority as provided in the Financial Considerations section of this Request.
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The Forensic Science Center currently has three of the four full time Biology/DNA Section positions filled with qualified case-working scientists. A fourth scientist has been selected to join the section in mid-June and a qualified analyst cross-training in Firearms remains proficient in DNA analysis in the interim.
The Section has seen a dramatic rise in casework over the last two years. A multidisciplinary task force convened in Kansas to determine the number of untested kits statewide and the study revealed that over half of the untested kits reside in Sedgwick County. The heightened awareness accompanies an increase in reported sexual assaults in the jurisdiction; both factors contribute to the fact that the section has experienced a 4-fold increase in sexual assault submissions.
To address the caseload challenge the Center currently has two genetic analyzers. Both are 3130 models that are over a decade old and service for these models ends in 2018. Therefore, the laboratory must purchase and validate a genetic analyzer that is capable of unrestricted 6-dye analysis that will be fully supported beyond the 2018 timeframe.
The new instrument will interrogate 20+ loci (rather than the current 16). If the laboratory processes the same number of samples as are tested today, nearly twice the amount of data will result. Accordingly, the laboratory recognizes the limitations of human data interpretation and conventional statistical methods. A solution for the interpretatio...
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