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Chron: Cops shouldn't run Houston crime lab

This editorial from the Houston Chronicle this morning decrying foulups and backlogs at the Houston PD crime lab pretty much reflects my views on the subject. The piece opens:You've got to be kidding, we thought: The Houston Police Department's crime lab has a backlog of more than 300 firearms forensics cases? On top of its backlogs of untested rape kits and unchecked fingerprints? and after years of cleaning up crummy work that led to at least four wrongful convictions?At this point, it ought to be news if HPD's evidence analysts do something well.And it ought to be long past obvious that our police shouldn't be managing a forensics lab. As the National Academy of Sciences reported last year, this isn't just HPD's problem: Cop culture naturally clashes with scientist culture ? and when a forensics unit is inside a police department, almost inevitably, cop culture wins...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on February 01, 2010 (boomark / email).