By Brian Hamlin/ BHamlin@TheReporter.com
Posted: 02/21/2009
An artist's rendering shows the plans for Solano County's new forensics lab. (Artist's rendering)
In October the Solano County District Attorney's Office plans to launch what may eventually become CSI Solano, a local, centrally-located forensics laboratory.
The lab, on the second floor of the county's new public health building under construction in the Solano Business Park, will begin with blood, alcohol, drug and toxicological analysis and identification, serving law enforcement agencies throughout Solano County.
For several years, those services have been provided on a contract basis by the Contra Costa County Crime Lab in Martinez.
"We're going to be able to do all the things the things that we're currently contracting with Contra Costa and we'll have direct control of the lab and the timing," said Solano County District Attorney David Paulson.
Forensics results will be quickly available to local lawn enforcement agencies and the DA's Office without the delay associated with courier services and lab backlogs in the neighboring county.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Kathy Coffer said that although the doors are expected to open in October, there will be a state-certification period for alcohol-related testing -- primarily related to drunken driving cases -- before the lab becomes official. The certification period, she said, is expected to be roughly four months.
The 6,000-square-foot forensic facility off Watney Way, Coffer said, initially will be staffed by a director, two criminalists, a lab assistant and an office assistant.
"We're going to start out small for Phase I of the lab," she explained.
Out-of-county lab work, Paulson said, is currently costing Solano County roughly $800,000 annually. No significant cost savings are expected with the initial phase of the new lab, but Paulson believes the increased efficiency will be dramatic.
Today, a delayed lab test can mean valuable time lost in the prosecution of a crime or the trial of defendants. When evidence is unavailable or out-of-county criminalists are temporarily unavailable, court schedules get backed up, trials have to be postponed and cases grind to a halt. With an already overburdened court system, one delayed case can affect dozens of other scheduled hearings, a perennial problem that has been decried by judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys alike, as well as the general public.
With lab results, evidence and expert criminalists located just across town from the courthouse, Paulson hopes unexpected delays will decrease.
"There will be an increase in efficiency and we hope to have more direct administrative control," Paulson said. "It's going to be a small facility with a small staff, but it's going to be a big plus for the criminal justice system in the long run."
The new forensic laboratory, Coffer said, is similar to other county-operated facilities in Sacramento, Orange and Kern counties that operate under the auspices of their district attorney's offices.
"We've spent some time at the lab in Sacramento and we'll be going back there in March," Coffer added.
The local lab eventually will grow beyond drug and alcohol testing, providing a broad range of forensic services to local law enforcement and the DA's Office.
In Phase 2 of the project -- probably within three to five years depending on funding and anticipated state fees -- the lab will add DNA testing and analysis services. In a subsequent Phase 3, Paulson hopes the lab will be performing a variety criminalistic services -- crime scene response, firearms and ammunition analysis (ballistics) and evidence gathering as well as fingerprint examination and comparison.
Ballistics analysis, now performed for the county without charge by the state Department of Justice, will be a critical element of the lab in the future.
With increased use of firearms in violent crimes, including gang-related slayings, quick and accurate identification of guns and ammo will be a must, Paulson said.
Although the state Department of Justice now performs this testing free, it's anybody's guess when state budget requirements will necessitate fees for counties using the service.
