The Justice Department‘s National Institute of Justice has announced a $63 million investment in efforts to boost laboratory capacity and shrink the backlog of DNA samples that await analysis at 132 states and local jurisdictions.
USDOJ’s Office of Justice Programs said Friday it will use the funds made available through the DNA Capacity Enhancement and Backlog Reduction program to support lab work to process and analyze DNA evidence as well as other capacity-building purposes.
“This funding not only allows these labs to get the additional resources they need to keep up with increasing demand, it also allows them to implement new technologies and protocols that help increase the speed and efficiency of DNA testing, thus getting investigative leads to law enforcement faster,” said NIJ Director Nancy Rodriguez.
NIJ also earlier launched a Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence – Inventory, Tracking and Reporting program to complement the DNA Backlog Reduction program and the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Sexual Assault Kit program.
NIJ is the research and development arm of USDOJ.
