Font Size

Colorado & Denver News

E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Colorado Springs Police Open Their Own DNA Lab

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

Recipient E-mail:*
- Your Name:*
- Your E-mail:*
Add a Message:
Send me a copy of this e-mail.

Type the characters in this picture:*

Click here to refresh with new letters

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

Print Share + Comments

Nov 20, 2008 10:34 am US/Mountain

Colorado Springs Police Open Their Own DNA Lab

By P. Solomon Banda, AP Writer
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: CBS

Close

numSlides of totalImages

Colorado Springs police will open their own DNA lab Friday, which could help them and nearby agencies solve more crimes more quickly.

The $1.6 million DNA lab is only the second in the state operated by a local agency. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation has DNA labs Lakewood, Grand Junction and Pueblo, but until now, Denver police were the only local department to have their own.

Colorado Springs officials say having their own lab will let them get results faster than waiting on the state labs.

Most DNA evidence submitted by local agencies to CBI labs takes about six months to be analyzed. Authorities hope recently installed machines at those labs could cut that to about 30 days.

Denver police say they get reports back from their lab in as little as 12 hours.

The new Colorado Springs Metro DNA Lab will have two analysts concentrating on evidence from major crimes such as sexual assaults, violent assaults and homicides in Colorado Springs and surrounding El Paso County, said Ian Fitch, the lab supervisor.

The lab will eventually assist nearby police departments including Manitou Springs, Fountain and Woodland Park, said Lt. David Whitlock.

Fitch said the lab has room for two additional analysts who could eventually help analyze DNA from property crimes such as burglaries and auto thefts.

"It's really a matter of resources and capacity, but not something we can do anywhere in the near future," Fitch said.

Lance Clem, Department of Public Safety spokesman, said other local police agencies are considering opening their own labs.

"This is something you're going to see a lot more of," Clem said.

A study released this summer, funded by the National Institute of Justice, found that collecting DNA at property-crime scenes made it five times more likely a suspect would be identified than if fingerprints alone were collected.

Analyzing DNA evidence also doubled the number of suspects who were identified, arrested and prosecuted, the study found.

Funding for the Colorado Springs lab came from local and federal sources, including the NIJ.

Curious & Controversial News

Add Comment

here. here. Need a log in? Register here

Your Name
Your E-Mail * Will not be displayed with comment
Suggest Link * e.g. (http://www.mywebsite.com)
Your Comment

Type the characters in this picture:*

Click here to refresh with new letters

Show Comments (0)

Close Window Login

Password:

Forgot Password | Register Here

Close Window Flag Comment

You are flagging the following comment:

Username:
E-mail:
Reason:

Type the characters in this picture:*

Click here to refresh with new letters

You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.