Accreditation Restored to State Crime Lab in Meriden - Update

The state crime lab in Meriden was reaccredited Tuesday by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors after hiring new staff and making other institutional changes in the six months since its accreditation was essentially revoked.

"I think the entire laboratory staff and the management above the lab deserve a lot of credit for putting forth a tremendous amount of effort and to achieve this kind of accreditation," said Ralph Keating, the Society's Executive Director, reached by phone Tuesday afternoon.

The Governor's Office welcomed the Society's vote.

"The decision today by the accreditation panel is welcomed news and certainly a positive step forward as we continue making improvements to restore the state’s crime lab,” Governor Dannel Malloy said in a statement Tuesday.

The Society allowed the lab's accreditation to expire in August 2011, after a federal audit in July raised concerns about the lab's supervision, data security, quality assurance and other issues, according to the Hartford Courant.

"The accreditation could have been extended, but the board felt there were too many things that (needed to be) fixed," Keating said.

A major backlog of evidence processing at the lab – including a six month wait to process rape kits – also came to light last summer and fall, but Keating said his organization's focus was on quality concerns and not speed.

Following the report, the Malloy Administration formed a panel with state experts from a variety of organizations to create "short- and long-term strategies" to address the issues. In September, Malloy to hire 12 new staff in specific roles.

“As I’ve said before, prior years of allowing dwindling resources for the lab resulted in an intolerable backlog and undermined our criminal justice system," Malloy said. "My administration will continue its efforts to implement improved procedures and provide the critical resources necessary, so that once again the crime lab will be a national model."

The Society voted to accredit the Connecticut lab Tuesday because of new procedures the staff has put in place, and documentation demonstrating that the procedures are being followed, Keating said.

"We know that they have a quality system in place," Keating said. "Nothing can guarantee a laboratory will never make a mistake," he said, adding that if there are mistakes made, it's important that there are appropriate measures in place to recognize and amend them quickly.

The accreditation will allow the lab to again access the FBI DNA data bank. The lab will immediately request access, according to Office of Policy and Management Under Secretary Mike Lawlor, who has led much of the state's effort since August to improve the lab.

“We are optimistic that will happen soon,” Lawler said in a statement.