Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories, 2009
Matthew R. Durose, BJS Statistician
Kelly A. Walsh, Research Associate, Urban Institute
Andrea M. Burch, BJS Statistician
In 2009, the nation’s 411 publicly funded crime laboratories received an estimated 4.1 million requests for forensic services. Of these, 8 out of 10 were for the screening or DNA analysis of biological evidence (i.e., forensic biology) (34%), controlled substance analysis (33%), or toxicology (15%). During the same year, 83% of publicly funded crime labs were accredited by a professional forensic science organization compared to 71% in 2002. Between 2002 and 2009, the overall accreditation rate increased across state (80% to 92%), county (66% to 75%), municipal (45% to 62%), and federal (67% to 79%) labs.
This report summarizes data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS) 2009 Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories (CPFFCL) and provides a comparative analysis with findings from the censuses conducted in 2002 and 2005. The CPFFCL offers a comprehensive look at crime lab personnel, budgets, and other administrative information (including backlogs in requests for forensic services) across the nation. The census also provides information on accreditations, proficiency tests, and other quality assurances within publicly operated labs.
HIGHLIGHTS
- During 2009, publicly funded crime labs began and ended the year with a total backlog of more than one million requests for forensic services.
- While forensic biology accounted for about a third of all requests received during 2009, about three-quarters of the total backlog that year was for these types of requests.
- DNA samples collected from convicted offenders and arrestees for a database of DNA profiles accounted for the majority of all forensic biology requests received in 2009.
- About 3 out of 10 publicly funded crime labs outsourced some forensic work to private labs or other public facilities in 2009.
- Publicly funded crime labs employed an estimated 13,100 full-time personnel in 2009—an increase from about 11,000 in 2002.
- The estimated budget for all publicly funded crime labs in 2009 was about $1.6 billion compared to the $1.0 billion budget for labs in 2002.