Yu Chen Lim

CAS 100A
3/23/2014
Problem Policy Speech
Backlog of DNA Evidence
In the state of Pennsylvania alone, there is a total of 917029 actual crimes reported
according to the Uniformed Crime Report In 2012. This means that in out of our class of
about 29, roughly 2 of us will be victims of a crime. Now that might seem like a small and
unlikely number, however it is not an impossible scenario, so just imagine if god forbid, you
are a victim of a crime, maybe a violent one, or even a property crime imagine the trauma,
the damage and amidst that all you seek is a bit of closure and justice. Now imagine that it
takes an entire year for DNA evidence to finally tie a suspect to the case. A scary thought
isnt it? This scenario is not far from home at all; just four years ago a poor female student
was raped near east prospect and locust lane not too far from here. Since then two other rapes
had occurred within the span of one year in the same area. Yet it was not until another whole
year had passed before they could tie the DNA profiles to one common assailant. This is due
to the problem of backlog in our DNA laboratories in Pennsylvania. (Case Backlog Delayed
DNA Analyses in State College Rapes, 2012) As a forensics science student and a
prospective future addition to the forensics community, this is a worrying phenomenon. In
fact, all of us should be worried, how can we rest easy knowing that criminals are running
free because our DNA laboratories are overworked and underfunded? This needs to end now.
First of all, backlog is defined by the US Department of justice as any evidence that
takes longer than 30 days to process. Let us now examine the underlying problem that has
plagued forensics crime laboratories all around the United States.
1. Right now, the demand for DNA testing is exceeding the capacity of laboratories to
process them. (Nelson 4) In 2011 the amount of cases backlogged was estimated to be
91, thousand. (Resnick, 2013) This probably comes as shock to many of us since we
get most of our forensics knowledge from popular television shows like NCIS and
CSI where evidence testing seem to happen at the blink of an eye.
2. But in truth a DNA profile typically takes five to ten days, depending on the profile
and priority of the case, and the actual scientific process takes up to about 60 hours.
(Fisher, 2014) This is not the lightning speed we see on television but is still a lot
more acceptable than having to wait an entire year before being able to identify a
suspect.
3. With an increase of awareness of DNA evidence as well as the breakthroughs is DNA
analysis, more and more samples are being sent in for testing faster than they can be
processed. It has become common protocol to take DNA swabs as well as samples
from rape kits for processing. These are important pieces of evidences that can be
used not just to convict criminals as well as exonerate the innocent. The innocence
project is an ongoing effort that uses DNA evidence to exonerate previously convicted
individuals from crimes that they did not commit. According to them, false
convictions occur from reasons due to, eyewitness misidentification, police
misconduct and false confessions. One can easily see how important it is to have solid
scientific evidence to back up these convictions. But with the backlog problem, many
innocent civilians spend up to years in incarceration for crimes they did not commit.
So how can we ease this nationwide problem?
1. In July of 2013 Senate Majority Leader Domnic Pileggi added a 1.5 Million
budget to the Pennsylvania state forensics laboratory with the intent to continue
reducing the backlog of DNA evidence. (Arnerson, 2013) More funding can be
used to:
a. Hire and train more professionals to work on the DNA samples with
increased efficiency.
b. Purchase equipment that would process DNA samples at a higher speed as
well as fund research for a more efficient system and machinery.
The latter is more important in my opinion, since a larger workforce would still not be
able to cope with the increasing demand for DNA profiling. What we should work
towards is to decrease the time required to do so. In our university itself, we are
working on a machine that could carry out the protocols and can deliver the results in
just 48 hours and is completely automated. This frees up manpower to work on other
incoming evidence.
2. We need to keep the funding coming. Pileggi, is one of the few elected officials
who understand the problem. While the increased funding eased the backlog with
the reduction to an annual 893 cases from 5000 since 2013. (Arnerson, 2013)
there is still a lack of awareness on the issue and is as a consequence not a very
heavily discussed topic in politics. By increasing public awareness, and getting
them on board, would pressure their senate to take a more pro-active approach to
the situation. With many programs such as endthebacklog.org that allows you to
write to your state elected official in order to advocate for reform as well as spread
the word on the issue and push for it to be a priority in the senate.
3. Increased awareness also allows police officers to understand the problem and
submit only necessary pieces of evidence for testing. With better communication
between the prosecution, police and forensic scientist, we would be able to work
better together and reach the common goal that is justice.
No one should have to do time for crimes that they did not commit, and those that
did do the crime should be put away in a timely manner. No one should suffer more
than they should and we have to take action right now. Get informed, spread the word
and push for a change. The backlog will not disappear immediately, but we sure need
all the help that we can get. With more funding, we can improve our systems and
procedures to speed up the process and with increased awareness, there would be
better cohesion between separate units as well as pressure for the people with power
to act on the issue.

Works Cited
Arneson, Erik. Forensic Lab Funding Lays Groundwork to Strengthen Pennsylvanias DNA
Law July 18
th
2014. Web. March 23
rd
2014
Case Backlog Delayed DNA Analyses in State College Rapes. State College. Match 28
th

2012. Web. March 23
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2014
End the backlog. Web. March 23
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2014
Fisher, Heather R. DNA Testing Timeline. Public Agency Training Council. Web. March
23
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2014
FY 2013 DNA Backlog Reduction Program. US Department of Justice. March 28
th
2013.
Web. March 23
rd
2014
Innocence Project. Web. March 23
rd
2014
Nelson, Mark. Making Sense of DNA Backlogs, 2010 Myths vs. Reality National
institute of Justice. February 2011. Web. March 23
rd
2014
Resnick, Brian. The United States Has a Huge Backlog of Untested DNA Evidence.
National Journal. August 6
th
2013. Web. March 23
rd
2014
Uniform Crime Report. Pennsylvania Uniform Crime Reporting System 2013. Web. March
23
rd
2014