This week, the Department of Justice awarded a total of $192 million to U.S. states to advance forensic science. The funding package breaks down to 13 specific grants, with an obvious focus on increasing DNA analysis throughout the nation.
Portions of the two largest grants were awarded to every state. The $80.7 million “DNA Capacity Enhancement Backlog Reduction Program” is designed to help crime labs increase their capacity for DNA analysis and the number of DNA samples, while simultaneously decreasing backlog and turnaround time. The funding is awarded to states, then divided among eligible crime labs within that state. The crime labs can then use the funding for a myriad of reasons, including overall upgrades to the lab as well as the purchase of new equipment and supplies.
The State of Texas received the largest chunk of change from this award at $2,931,027. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement was a close second at $2,750,432, while the Illinois State Police banked $2,384,863.
The $26.5 million “Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program” differs from the other grants awarded as it requires 15 percent of funds to be awarded competitively, with remaining funds awarded to states based on population and made available to all applicants that apply. This grant program is intended to improve forensic science and medical examiner/coroner services. Forensic laboratories can use the funds to eliminate backlog and train/employ additional laboratory personnel.
Again, every state received a portion of the grant, but only three states received more than $1 million: Texas Office of Governor, Criminal Justice Division ($1,563,915), Florida Department of Law Enforcement ($1,158,418) and New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services ($1,049,243). For the competitive portion of the grant, only 15 states were awarded funds.
The remaining 10 grants focus on DNA, sexual assault, medical examiners/coroners, missing persons, and R&D and education.
DNA Analysis: Two additional grants worth $10.9 million
California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Oregon and Tennessee were awarded resources toward the prosecution of violent crime cold cases where DNA from a suspect has been identified. Modern forensic technology far exceeds that available only a handful of years ago, giving hope to many cold cases that were deemed previously unsolvable.
Additionally, 12 states received funding for postconviction testing of DNA evidence in response to a growing number of wrongful convictions that have been overturned through forensic DNA analysis. The program funding covers costs such as additional personnel, overtime, testing supplies and services.
Sexual Assault: Two grants worth $45.6 million
The $43 million National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative breaks down to multiple parts to ensure states have funding regardless of how far along they are in the initiative. This program provides funding for unsubmitted sexual assault kits, expansion of DNA databases to assist sexual assault investigations and investigation and prosecution of cold case sexual assaults.
The second grant provides funding through the SAFE-ITR program to enable agencies to document their unanalyzed sexual assault kits, process sexual assault evidence and upload DNA profiles to CODIS.
R&D/Education: Six grants worth $26.2 million
Multiple grants in this category provide funding for basic and applied R&D, most of which focuses on analyzing physical evidence. Additionally, the National Institute of Justice committed nearly $2 million to 16 new fellows whose dissertation research is relevant to advancing forensic science, supporting the development of new researchers engaged in bringing science to problems of crime and justice.
This group of grants also supports universities and campuses with research dedicated to forensic science. For example, funds were awarded to national forensic centers of excellence at George Mason University (Virginia) and the Research Triangle Institute (North Carolina). More than $4 million was given to the University of North Texas Health Science Center that runs the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).
Medical Examiner/Coroner: One grant worth $1.7 million
This program is intended to strengthen the medical examiner-coroner system by increasing the number of and quality of board-certified forensic pathologists, which is frighteningly low currently. An additional goal is to help medical examiners improve the quality of forensic death investigations.
You can read more about allocations to individual states here.