THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE POLICE CRIME LABORATORY SYSTEM’S PHASED APPROACH
TO ELIMINATING BACKLOG
Today, the pearl of the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab system sits atop
a hill in the wealthy suburb of Sudbury, roughly 20 miles from Boston. Part
of an office park that includes a private school and other businesses, this
link in the crime lab system is spacious and well designed, offering its employees
a modern building within which the Massachusetts legal system does much of
its science.
The rest of the system is not so pretty, however.
Massachusetts, the 45th largest state in terms of land mass, has a population
of 6.5 million, the 13th largest in the nation. The forensic services for the
Commonwealth are shared among many agencies, including the Massachusetts State
Police (MSP) Crime Lab System and other services, Boston Police Department
Forensic Services, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (spread over four sites),
a Postmortem toxicology lab at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center
(UMMC), a street-drug testing lab at UMMC, and two drug labs run by the Department
of Public Health.
The largest of these agencies, the MSP Crime Lab System, represents the bulk
of science that goes on in the state to assist in the administration of justice.
The beautiful building in Sudbury is one of five sites of a fragmented system
that includes a headquarters in an overcrowded former elementary school.
A Little History
The early days of forensic services for the MSP began at 1010 Commonwealth
Avenue in Boston where they were housed and known as the Public Safety Crime
Lab. This lab operated from 1953 – 1991. In 1991, a consolidation of
forensic services began and this same space became home to the MSP Crime
Lab. This tired building housed the lab from 1991 until 1995 when the state
invested $4M to renovate an elementary school in Sudbury.
A lot has changed in the last decade, both culturally and politically. The
onslaught of crime related television programs has led to a renewed interest
on the part of young people to study science and work as part of forensic teams.
Additionally, juries and the public in general, understand that science exists
to definitively link a suspect to a scene and a victim, or free that person
from suspicion. Media coverage of actually innocent people being convicted
of crimes and sentenced to heavy penalties, including death, has led to an
expectation that all crimes that can be solved through science should be solved
through science.
A utopian view? Perhaps, but one which Carl Selavka, director of the MSP Crime
Lab System understands. Selavka has been leading the effort to take today’s
fragmented system, unable to keep up with cases, hampered by understaffing
and inadequate facilities, and usher in a solution with capacity to last 30
years. With the attention given to forensic science in our society, the time
is ripe for garnering support and dollars needed to get there.
Figure 2: Halls and walls of the leased spaces in Sudbury,
prior to being turned into the expanded Crime Lab facility. The presence
of hallway windows into the operational areas will allow the accredited
lab to host tours of dignitaries, investigators, ADAs, and the public,
while avoiding issues of cross-contamination. This was one immediate
benefit of the new space compared to Crime Lab headquarters housed in
the former elementary school.
The Phased In Approach
The MSP Crime Lab System has had its share of bad press. In one instance, a
suspect was arrested in a high profile murder case on Cape Cod. He had offered
a DNA sample three months after the January 2002 murder but the sample was
not taken until March 2004 and not delivered to the state crime lab until
July 2004. It then took the crime lab nine months to process the DNA sample
and match it to DNA found at the crime scene. The media highlighted this
incident as part of a broken system.
The system, though insufficient, is not broken. The science of solving crimes
goes on every day. Often in cramped quarters, chemists evaluate and analyze
evidence and help solve crimes. On a recent tour I took of the crime lab, Major
Mark Delaney, Commander of Forensic Services for the State Police, expressed
his pride in the quality of the science that goes on in his lab.
But quality is not enough. It must be coupled with quantity – the ability
to work the present caseload. While some states and jurisdictions around the
country are taking the giant leap from old, overcrowded labs to brand new state-of-the-art
facilities, Massachusetts is taking a phased approach to ramping up for the
future.
In 2002, a statewide forensic needs assessment performed over a six month
period by the National Forensic Science Technology Center (NFSTC) was reported.
It found that:
There was a huge need to increase criminalistics and DNA capacity.
Joint training for scientists and detectives to address weapons
of mass destruction evidence readiness was clearly a problem.
High tech computer crime support was understaffed and underfunded.
Unified evidence control including the ability to address post-conviction
DNA testing requests in a timely manner needed staffing and focus.
Large item evidence processing was often relegated to cramped spaces
away from any laboratory.
Drug lab consolidation should be pursued by the state, to eradicate
administrative redundancy and improve overall quality of street-drug testing
service.
Two years later, the
Governor’s Crime Commission made
the following recommendations:
Expansion of forensic biology and digital evidence capacity must
get significant new resources and focus.
Improvement of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME)
has been needed for over 15 years, and will be critical if comprehensive
death
investigations are to reach modern standards.
Consolidation of street-drug testing services and toxicology would
bring significant improvements in quality through reduced redundancies,
more rapid test turn-around-times, and consistent accreditation compliance.
Management of forensic services under the Executive Office of Public
Safety should be an area of focus for that Cabinet-level Office.
Based on these studies, Carl Selavka, his colleague Lieutenant Charlie Heaton,
and Major Delaney worked out a plan that would allow the crime lab to get where
it needs to be long term, without sacrificing crucial work that must continue
in the meantime. The approach was to implement an interim plan in which additional
staff and square footage would be added while pursuing the funding and development
of an Advanced Forensic Technology Center – one large center where the
majority of State Police forensic services would be housed under the same roof.
Of course, all new, “big ideas” usually require new funding and
support at the highest levels of government and the agencies involved. The
MSP forensic expansion has been no exception. While previous state administrations
have supported public safety improvements in the Commonwealth through forensic
services, things have moved to the front burner since Governor Mitt Romney
took office in 2002. Based on the NFSTC forensic needs assessment, Governor
Romney immediately started discussions with key legislators and was able to
add more Crime Lab staff for the new fiscal year starting in July 2003. The
Governor’s Office then formed the Crime Commission in 2003, which reported
to Lt. Governor Kerry Healey – who happens to have a Ph.D. in Criminology – on
ways to enhance public safety even more, through their formal findings published
in 2004.
Support has also been present at every layer between Governor Romney and bench
chemists at the Crime Lab. From Secretary of Public Safety Edward Flynn to
Superintendent of State Police Thomas Robbins, and the entire Command structure
that oversees Major Delaney’s forensic service operations, all levels
have supported this initiative. The MSP Crime Lab System has also seen support
from the Massachusetts DA’s Association and even Crime Lab directors
from neighboring states. Though they all wish it would cost less and happen
faster, there seems to be a united understanding of the importance of the forensic
service expansion underway in Massachusetts.
Phase 1
Today’s MSP Crime Lab System is responsible for several units including:
drugs, bombs and arson, toxicology, criminalistics, trace analysis, evidence
control, DNA, and a “regulatory” function to insure the accuracy
of breath alcohol testing (Office of Alcohol Testing; OAT). In addition, other
forensic services not organizationally part of the crime lab, are housed along
with the lab. These include Crime Scene Services (CSS), Ballistics, and AFIS/Identification.
The Crime Lab System is currently spread over five different physical sites
(shared with other forensic service units), while CSS and Ballistics are currently
housed in four of their own additional facilities statewide. Thus, the appropriately
distributed forensic services for State Police are provided from nine separate
sites.
In 2004, the crime lab had a staff of 71, housed in about 8,000 square feet
of office and lab space, working on 8,500 cases. The caseload represented more
than 38,000 evidentiary items and 100,000 scientific examinations.
The goal of Phase 1, completed in fiscal year 2005, was to shift some units
from one facility to another to keep like work together. In addition, 12,000
square feet of additional space was added. This additional space came in the
form of that building on the hill in Sudbury. It was renovated into a state-of-the-art
lab and office space. For the first time, many of the scientists working for
the MSP Crime Lab System had sufficient space in which to do their lab-based
work, as well as separate administrative areas in which to interpret and report
their findings (even a place to drink their coffee!). Twenty-four new chemists
were added to the staff during Phase 1.
In addition, both the new, leased space as well as the other four sites saw
new equipment including a new high-tech Scanning Electron Microscope with an
Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analyzer, new Gas-Chromatography-Mass Spectrometers,
a wide array of new Genetic Analysis equipment for modern, high-efficiency
forensic DNA testing, expanded evidence control through upgraded Laboratory
Information Management System (LIMS) tools, and climate controlled and high
density storage areas to expand accredited evidence control capabilities. The
Crime Lab System even improved their CSI actions by purchasing new high-intensity
lasers and digital cameras to show where the trace evidence is hiding when
they respond to the hundreds of crime scenes they’re called to each year.
In terms of caseload/throughput and backlog, the improvement will take longer
to accomplish. You can’t simply buy it “off a shelf” like
some fancy new equipment. The 24 additional chemists underwent the “normal” one
year or so of training so they could report their results in court, and just
recently started working on real cases. But through this addition, the lab’s
turn-around-time targets have all been reduced below 60 days, except for DNA
testing. The capacity imbalance – need vs. ability – was so huge
that the DNA staff added (12 of the 24 new staff) moved the casework testing
from 200 cases per year to 500 cases per year. The ultimate target on this
backlog is to be able to test over 3000 cases. There is still a long road ahead
if the Crime Lab System wants to keep their quality high while they build their
ability to help solve violent crimes and protect the innocent.
Figure 3: Expansion of the MSP Crime Lab System has enjoyed
the support of the highest levels of state government including Gov.
Mitt Romney, left, on a tour of the Sudbury facility with criminalistic
supervisor, Eugene Hagan (foreground), and Major Mark Delaney.
Phase 2
Phase 2 of the plan, beginning in fiscal year 2006, looks to expand the current
services by reaching 100,000 square feet of space and hiring another 33 staff.
The new staff will be used to support those studies done in 2002 and 2003,
including chemists, computer forensics professionals, crime scene specialists,
and additional administrative support. In FY 2006, the crime lab expects
to have a staff of 116, adding more staff each year until they are fully
staffed at over 400.
The additional space will be predominantly used to expand the services involving
DNA, toxicology, and trace evidence examinations. A computer crime lab will
be built, as well. In addition, the recent requirement for much more comprehensive
homeland-security information analysis abilities by police nationwide is being
included in this next phase of the MSP growth.
It is expected that Phase 2 facility growth will take the Commonwealth through
the next five or six years. The staff growth will more than double the DNA
testing capacity again – with the Crime Lab System projecting an ability
to cover 1800 cases per year when the new hires are working cases. Since the
population of Massachusetts is projected to remain stable over the next several
years, it is expected that the workload will remain relatively stable, as well.
As the capacity of the crime lab increases, the throughput of the lab will
increase – backlogs will decrease as will the average amount of time
to process evidence. But this won’t solve the problem of increased expectations
by the public for more and more testing on more and more items of evidence,
especially in more and more property crimes. This “CSI Effect” is
a real part of the future for which all forensic service agencies must prepare.
Phase 3
In part, Phase 3 involves planning for the Advanced
Forensic Technology Center (AFTC) which is expected to take the State Police’s
forensic services through the next 30 years. It is expected that the AFTC will
be funded by a bond hopefully approved by the legislature in FY 2006.
The goal for the lab’s directors is that by the time the AFTC is opened,
the Crime Lab System will be fully staffed and the trained scientists will
all be ready to move in and begin work immediately. Phase 3 will involve planning
for that move as well as procuring more equipment and hiring additional staff.
The Work Must Go On
While all this planning and negotiating and renovations are in progress, the
work of the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab System goes on. Improvements
to process and equipment are ongoing. With each leased and renovated space,
the directors are learning more and more about how to do things right.
While the legislature and citizens see the physical facility as ‘what
they are paying for,’ the directors understand that the human resources
are even more valuable. Hiring talented scientists who are willing to work
for the wages of public servants is not always easy. Luckily, the ‘CSI
Effect’ on college undergraduate and graduate programs is great and the
pool of potential workers is expected to be large for the next several years.
The scientists are highly educated professionals who require not only state-of-the-art
laboratory equipment, but enough personal, quiet space to do their interpretations
and report their results. The MSP lab will be a working environment where their
scientists feel appreciated and respected. Working in a modern facility with
ample space, nice grounds, and a room to eat lunch can go a long way in the
job satisfaction arena.
The MSP are also working toward all their forensic services being accredited.
Currently, the MSP Crime Lab System has ASCLD/LAB accreditation. In the next
year (with a target application deadline of October 2006), MSP will be seeking
formal ASCLD/LAB Legacy accreditation for its latent prints, firearms, and
digital evidence forensic services. Several other forensic technology enhancements
and quality initiatives are underway as well.
Conclusion
The road from backlog to a fully staffed, full capacity forensic science
center is long for the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab System. Each
step along the way, however, brings them closer to their goals and increases
the quality of their contribution to the justice system in the Commonwealth. – C.J.
Forensic Magazine thanks Carl Selavka for his contributions to this article.
Carl can be reached at cselavka@pol.state.ma.us; (508) 358-3101
