Making Sense of DNA Backlogs, 2010 — Myths vs. Reality
National Institute of Justice
We have all seen the headlines: thousands of rape kits in law enforcement agencies are untested; crime laboratories that have substantial backlogs of DNA cases waiting to be analyzed.
Delays in submitting evidence to a forensic laboratory as well as delays in analyzing the evidence result in delays in justice. In worst-case situations, delays can result in additional victimization by serial offenders or in the incarceration of individuals who have not committed the crime they are accused of or charged with.
Policymakers ask why DNA backlogs persist even after the federal government has provided hundreds of millions of dollars to eliminate the backlog. This is a fair question; to answer it requires understanding both what a backlog is and how backlogs can be reduced. This report addresses that question and the answers to it.