9/19/2005 4:33:00 PM
To: National Desk
Contact: Catherine Sanders of the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of
Justice Programs, 202-307-0703, Web: http://releases.usnewswire.com/redir.asp?ReleaseID=53619&Link=http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov
TAMPA, Fla., Sept. 19 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Department of Justice
today announced more than $84 million in DNA grants nationwide as part of
President Bush's DNA Initiative, Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology.
The DNA Initiative is a five- year, $1 billion commitment to improve the
nation's capacity to use DNA evidence by eliminating casework and
convicted offender backlogs; funding research and development; improving
crime lab capacity; providing training for all stakeholders in the
criminal justice system; and conducting testing to identify the missing.
In addition, $13.6 million is being awarded to improve criminal justice
forensic services.
"DNA has proven to be one of the most remarkable crime- fighting tools
of the 21st century," said Regina B. Schofield, Assistant Attorney General
for the Office of Justice Programs. "With DNA evidence, law enforcement
can solve rapes, murders and even burglaries, and can bring much needed
closure for a family whose loved one is missing and is not found or
identified. Through the President's DNA Initiative, victims and their
families can know that justice will be served."
Newer DNA analysis techniques can yield results from biological
evidence invisible to the naked eye, even in cases where the evidence is
contaminated. Today, police departments throughout the country are
reexamining unsolved rape and homicide cases using advanced DNA methods.
Newly-processed DNA profiles are uploaded into the FBI database, CODIS, so
the data can be compared with DNA profiles derived from convicted
offenders and evidence samples already in the national system. Matches are
confirmed by obtaining and analyzing a second sample from the suspect and
then reported to law enforcement. More information about President Bush's
DNA Initiative can be found at http://releases.usnewswire.com/redir.asp?ReleaseID=53619&Link=http://www.dna.gov.
While DNA technology is helping to solve crimes and exonerate the
innocent across the country, many public crime laboratories are not fully
equipped to handle the increased demand for DNA testing. Some laboratories
have large backlogs of unanalyzed DNA samples from convicted offenders and
crime scenes, which can significantly delay criminal investigations and
the administration of justice. According to a study funded by the
Department of Justice, an estimated 542,700 cases either have biological
evidence still in the possession of local law enforcement or backlogged at
forensic crime laboratories. With these grants, the Department of Justice
has ensured that local jurisdictions, which often have the greatest DNA
backlogs, can directly benefit from federal funds.
The grants will be administered by the National Institute of Justice
(NIJ), the research, development and evaluation arm of the Department of
Justice. Nationwide, NIJ has awarded $18 million for DNA casework; $30.3
million for DNA capacity building for crime lab improvement; $4 million
for DNA training; $7.7 million for DNA research and development; $1.5
million for DNA testing for missing persons; and $20.6 million for
convicted offender testing. NIJ will also provide $13.6 million for Paul
Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants that can be applied to
improving non-DNA forensic services. This funding represents the largest
amount of money provided by the Department to support state and local
forensic efforts.
Earlier in September, the Department of Justice awarded $1.5 million to
the University of North Texas that will be used to help identify the
missing and unidentified dead recovered as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
It also awarded $4.4 million in DNA Initiative and other forensic service
funds to states affected by Hurricane Katrina: Louisiana, Mississippi and
Alabama. These funds will be used to assist recovery of crime laboratory
capacity and identification of remains.
As part of the President's DNA Initiative, the Department awarded $2
million to five jurisdictions as part of a pilot program to help solve
high-volume property crimes. Evidence now suggests that DNA evidence may
assist law enforcement in solving these crimes and can prevent future
property crimes and more serious offenses. The Department of Justice has
selected five sites to participate in a $2 million, 18-month pilot project
that will assess the cost-effectiveness of expanding the collection of DNA
evidence from high volume serious crimes to property crimes, particularly
burglary. The five sites are: Denver, Colo. ($417,207); Orange County,
Calif. ($495,505); Los Angeles, Calif. ($436,077); Phoenix, Ariz.
($500,000); and Topeka, Kan. ($141,500).
All five locations will have coordinated teams from law enforcement,
the forensic science community and the district attorney's office to
implement the program locally. The five sites will be evaluated to
determine how much DNA contributes to solving property crimes.
Assistant Attorney General Schofield cited the pioneering efforts of
two Florida counties, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade, to use DNA analysis to
solve many types of crime. These counties developed programs that
identified cases of all types-from burglaries to car theft to robberies
and other violent crimes-in which DNA evidence might be present but police
had yet to identify a suspect. When the DNA profiles from these cases were
loaded into state and national DNA databases, matches to known criminals
were made in 40 to 50 percent of the cases.
The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) provides federal leadership in
developing the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer
justice, and assist victims. OJP is headed by an Assistant Attorney
General and comprises five component bureaus and two offices: the Bureau
of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National
Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention; and the Office for Victims of Crime, as well as the Office of
the Police Corps and Law Enforcement Education and the Community Capacity
Development Office, which incorporates the Weed and Seed strategy and
OJP's American Indian and Alaska Native Affairs Desk. More information can
be found at http://releases.usnewswire.com/redir.asp?ReleaseID=53619&Link=http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov.
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