Crime labs need money

Federal grants are helping the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences chip away at the state's horrendous backlog of cases awaiting analysis in its crime lab, but legislators have yet to do their part to ensure that suspected criminals get a speedy trial, crime victims get justice and cold cases are solved.

CBS's "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "CSI: Miami" have enlightened the public about the value of crime labs, but legislators haven't seemed to tune in. Instead of vibrant, CSI-like crime-solving efforts like those portrayed on television in Las Vegas and Miami, poor funding leaves Alabama saddled with an embarrassing, alternate version of CSI: consistently slow investigations.

There is one ray of hope. Through a federal initiative pushed by Alabama's U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions five years ago, the department received $2 million recently to shore up its DNA and toxicology programs. That should help.

The Department of Forensic Sciences has 16,000 cases waiting analysis and gets 150 new DNA-related cases and 300 toxicology cases a month.

Testing of evidence in murder, rape and other cases can take two or three years. That's unacceptable.

The slow investigations occur because legislators have neglected the department's needs. It hasn't seen an increase in state funding in a decade.

Gov. Bob Riley seems aware of the problem, but legislators have dragged their feet for years in getting the department more funding. That's a shame, because forensic evidence is the single most important element in many violent-crime prosecutions.

With enhanced federal funding and a more reasonable commitment by legislators, Alabama's crime lab can shrug off its "consistently slow investigations" label and become as effective as the fictional labs on television.