DNA reporting system flawed, state audit says
The Sun's Frank Roylance reports:
A reporting system set up to provide Maryland lawmakers with data on crime scene DNA testing by state and local law enforcement agencies has major flaws, a state auditor’s review has found (read full report here).
The report by the state Office of Legislative Audits said that a “lack of clear guidance” in the legislation, in implementing regulations and in the report forms provided to police, led to “inconsistencies” in the reporting that have rendered any conclusions drawn from the numbers “unreliable.”
The numbers for 2009 found, for example, that police collected 11,359 samples of crime scene DNA (as distinct from personal DNA) from 4,836 crimes. More than 1,800 of those crimes were committed in Baltimore City.
The average “turnaround” time for test results varied from 28 days in Howard County to 240 days for the National Capital Park Police.
But the review revealed that police agencies differed in how they defined and counted crimes and samples for the reports. Some provided estimates rather than counts. They also had different ideas on when to start counting the days it took to get DNA test results back. Three local police departments didn’t report at all on samples they sent to private labs — between 14 percent and 17 percent of their crime scene DNA evidence.
