GBI 2000 Annual Report

The Division of Forensic Sciences (DOFS) provides scientific support to criminal justice agencies, enabling them to detect, apprehend and prosecute criminals by utilizing accurate, useful and timely laboratory analysis and testimony. Except for limited services provided by local and federal laboratories, DOFS' crime labs are the only forensic services available for the criminal justice community of Georgia.

Personnel Growth

The Georgia State Crime Laboratory (Division of Forensic Sciences) was formed by the Legislative Act of 1952. The laboratory had five full-time staff members who processed 651 cases that year.

In FY'00, the Division of Forensic Sciences' (DOFS) 256 scientists, technicians and clerical staff processed more than 117,600 cases.

The 83 newly-created positions received in 1999 by Governor Roy Barnes and the Georgia General Assembly were quickly trained to process evidence in their respective scientific disciplines.

The scientists had a concentrated three to four months of training at the Northwestern Regional Crime Lab in Summerville and successfully completed the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities requirements to perform complex scientific testing and courtroom testimony.

After this intensified training, these scientists were incorporated into the workforce at all seven laboratory sites to work the routine backlog cases.

When the backlog cases are completed, the scientists will return to the classroom to receive additional training in their respective fields of forensic science.

The backlog of unworked cases was reduced to less than 6,000 cases by July 2000. The laboratory receives about 10,000 cases per month.

The high watermark for unworked cases occurred in October 1999 when the laboratory had 35,857 backlogged cases. In less than nine months, DOFS personnel were able to reduce the backlog to 6,000 cases. It is projected that by June 2001, 90 percent of the testing on cases brought to the lab will be complete within 30 days.

Besides a much quicker response for our customers, the laboratory was able to increase the services provided.

There is now more in-depth analysis of both Toxicology and Drug Identification cases. For example, now more than one drug item is analyzed in drug cases and additional drugs in body fluids are tested. The goals achieved by DOFS have resulted in faster processing of death certificates, a speedier court system, and the highest professional forensic services anywhere in the country.

There is still more work to be done, and DOFS looks forward to adding resources and capabilities over the next year.

The other critical needs, as outlined by the Commission to Assess State Crime Laboratory Needs into the 21st Century, are in the fields of Questioned Documents, Firearms Identification, Trace Evidence, Forensic Biology/DNA and Latent Prints.

DNA has become the buzzword across the nation. Georgia leads the nation in modern forensic DNA techniques, especially with STR (short tandem repeat) technology. The increase in request for Forensic Biology/DNA analysis has placed a growing burden on the Forensic Biology work unit.

Georgia belongs to the national CODIS database (Combined DNA Indexing System) and has had more successful hits than any other state. This past year, the 2000 Georgia General Assembly expanded CODIS to almost all felony offenders. This will expand the lab's DNA database at a rate of more than 30,000 entries per year for the next several years. Introduced and supported by Georgia's Lt. Governor Mark Taylor, this far-sighted vision by Georgia's legislators is probably one of the most important weapons against criminals in the past ten years. Many unsolved crimes will have a much greater opportunity for being solved.

The Firearms Section was able to maintain but not reduce the backlog. There is a national shortage of trained firearm examiners across the country. As there is no college that one can graduate with the necessary skills for firearms examinations, all laboratories must train new staff in a program that can take up to two years to complete. To solve part of this problem, GBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) joined forces and created a model nine- month firearms training program. Besides reducing the time frame for training, the cost to train firearms examiners was shared by both agencies, thus saving citizens of both states tax dollars.

The Trace Evidence Section tests hairs, fibers, paints, fracture matches, shoe impressions, tire marks and other physical material that cannot be tested by the other sciences in the laboratory. Most of the evidence received by the Trace work unit deals with homicide cases. Trace Evidence was unable to reduce its backlog.

The last year has seen substantial progress on the installation of the new Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) for the laboratory.

Initial delivery of hardware and software was completed in the summer of 1999. Conversion of legacy data from the old HP3000 system was a time consuming and sometimes frustrating process that was finally completed in the late fall.

In November 1999, all information related to cases submitted to the laboratory was switched over to the new LIMS. There were several initial problems with the data conversions, but even with all of the problems that were encountered, the new system is still far more efficient and flexible than the older system.

The laboratory generates more than two million pieces of paper annually, processing more than 500,000 pieces of evidence. With the new system, DOFS can now track information that previously was unavailable.

Because LIMS has the capability of using electronic signatures, the scientists no longer have to manually sign multiple copies of reports to be issued to the customer. This single change represents a significant time savings to the scientific staff, especially in those disciplines that produce a high volume of casework.

As well as the implementation of LIMS went, it represents only an interim step along the path of the laboratory's eventual goal of becoming a paperless work environment.

In early 2000, exact design specifications were developed and provided to the LIMS vendor so that it could complete the requirements of the contract issued for LIMS installation. These design specifications will provide a large number of enhancements to the software that will enable the staff of DOFS to become even more efficient and effective.

One of these changes is the linkage of all the scientific instrumentation into LIMS so that the final data output can be stored and viewed from within LIMS. By linking this data to LIMS, online peer review of the data can be performed. The new version of the software will be going online in October 2000.

Other changes to LIMS that have been in development and are nearing completion are:

•Pre-entry of evidence submission information by local agencies. This pilot program has been tested successfully with the narcotics unit of Atlanta Police Department. By allowing the agencies to pre-enter their case information, it not only saves time for DOFS staff, but it increases the likelihood that mistakes will be minimized due to illegible handwriting or missing data on handwritten forms.

•Dissemination of final laboratory reports via the Internet. A secure Website is under development with the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA). Once reports are completed, they will be posted to this Website where customers with appropriate security access will be able to download and print the reports as needed. This Website is nearly complete and should be operational by January 2001.

By distributing reports via the Internet, the laboratory will free up staff time from printing, mailing and faxing of reports that have been lost or inadvertently destroyed by local agencies.

•DOFS has been impacted by the Open Records Act with more than 2,000 requests for reports and lab notes. When LIMS is fully implemented, the time to complete these Open Records requests will be reduced significantly.

As the current projects are successfully completed, the laboratory will continue to look for innovative ways that advances in information technology can be used to better serve our customers.

In 2000, the GBI Crime Laboratory continued to be the only lab of its kind in the world to receive both prestigious registration with the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) to the ISO 9002:1994 Standard and national accreditation by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors-Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD-LAB). The quality program represents a commitment to providing the best customer product based on customers' needs and good business practice. DOFS operates the laboratory as a business, making best use of valuable state resources to make the state's forensic laboratory one of the most efficient and most professional forensic laboratories anywhere in the world.

With the workloads growing at GBI regional crime laboratories, renovations and upgrades are needed to keep pace with demand.

LABORATORY SERVICES

Established in 1952 as the second statewide crime laboratory in the United States, the Division of Forensic Sciences provides scientific support to the criminal justice system in Georgia. Using the most recent technologies and highly sophisticated equipment, lab scientists and technicians in specialized disciplines collect, analyze and interpret all aspects of physical evidence for law enforcement and prosecutors throughout the state. They also offer expert testimony on their findings.

Drug Identification

At the beginning of FY'00, more than 20,000 cases were in backlog waiting to be analyzed by the Drug Identification Section. The newly hired scientists began analyzing cases in September 1999. The backlog was steadily reduced through the hard work of the staff and the cooperation of prosecuting agencies. In late May, the entire backlog of cases that needed analysis had been completed.

One of the major customer concerns related to illegal drug cases in recent years has been the laboratory's policy of only analyzing one item per case in most instances. This policy had been implemented in an effort to cope with increasing caseloads with a static staff level. With the integration of the new staff and the elimination of the backlog of old cases, the laboralaboratory is now able to more adequately serve the needs of our customers. Effective July 2000 in cases involving a potential scheduled drug and marijuana, both items will be analyzed by all Chemistry units in the laboratory system.

Also in July 2000, the Drug Identification Section will begin analyzing samples on all cases submitted to the laboratory, with approximately 80 percent of the analyses being completed within 30 days. This includes suspected marijuana cases submitted from Fulton County, which had previously been held without analysis until specifically requested by the prosecution. By performing these additional analyses and furnishing reports to the customers in a more timely fashion, it is hoped that the information will benefit the entire criminal justice system.

With elimination of the case backlog, DOFS is now giving increased attention to providing its staff with enhanced training. Several staff members are attending training courses on new instrumentation and new methods that can be brought back to others within the laboratory.

One of the new instruments that was purchased and installed during the last year is a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) that is extremely useful in the analysis of certain types of compounds such as GHB, the date rape drug. This new instrument is considerably easier to use and has capabilities not present in the instrument that it replaced. Many of the instruments used by Drug Identification had reached the end of their useful life span.

As a result, new replacement gas chromatographs/mass spectrometers (GC/MS) were placed into service. These new instruments provide high sensitivity for detection and enable the scientists to perform a large number of analyses daily.

Crime Lab Disciplines

Drug Identification

Analyzes and identifies suspected narcotics and other controlled substances, as well as paints and accelerants.

Forensic Biology/DNA

Detects, identifies and individualizes biological fluids. The section also maintains a computerized database called CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) that stores the DNA profiles of convicted sex offenders and felons in Georgia. Evidence from sexual assault cases can be searched on the database to see if matches can be found and suspects identified.

Pathology

Performs autopsies to determine cause and manner of death.

Forensic Toxicology/Blood Alcohol

Isolates and identifies drugs and poisons in human tissue.

Firearms Identification

Compares bullets and cartridge cases to the firearms from which they were fired; utilizes the Integrated Ballistics Identification System (IBIS) monitored by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).

Latent Fingerprints

Collects, preserves, identifies and compares fingerprints from crime scenes and physical evidence, utilizing the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS).

Criminalistics/Trace Evidence

Examines evidence, including fibers, hairs, glass, shoe tracks and other forms of trace evidence to assist in determining if a suspect was present at a crime scene.

Questioned Documents

Using a variety of techniques, the service examines and compares documents for possible forgery. It also determines if a suspect is linked to documents key to an investigation.

Forensic Photography

Photographs autopsies at the request of the Medical Examiner's Office. The section also processes and prints crime scene photographs.

Implied Consent

Administers the state's breath alcohol testing program and provides training for law enforcement agencies statewide in the use of breath alcohol testing instruments.

Forensic Biology

Since July 1999 several experienced staff members within the Forensic Biology Section left the laboratory to pursue advanced education or careers with other organizations. This left the section with insufficient trained staff to keep up with the incoming cases. As a result, the section started to develop a backlog in the analysis of sexual assault cases for the first time in over a year. New staff has been hired and is in the process of being trained.

In the spring 2000 legislative session, the law covering DNA databasing of convicted offenders was expanded from just sex offenses to all felons. The legislation is retroactive in its impact and covers all inmates who are incarcerated in a state facility other than boot camps. This change to the law results in an increase in the number of samples submitted to the laboratory for DNA databasing from approximately 800 per year to nearly 30,000 per year. Because of this tremendous increase in need for analysis, some additional staffing was approved by the legislature.

Also approved was funding to purchase high throughput instrumentation that can be used in the DNA analysis procedure. The two most prominent pieces of this instrumentation are a robotic workstation that will extract the DNA from the submitted felon samples and a multichannel capillary electrophoresis (CE) instrument. The robotic workstation will enable the laboratory to extract approximately 175 samples daily as compared to around 80 samples daily when done manually. The multichannel CE can process up to 16 samples simultaneously, allowing the complete DNA typing on nearly 400 samples daily.

The profiles from DNA testing are entered into a database called the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). Within the last year, the GBI laboratory became one of the first laboratories to be included in a pilot program that provides direct connection to the national CODIS database. This allows for DNA profiles tested by DOFS to be compared to profiles obtained by other laboratories across the country which also are connected to the national system.

At the end of August, there were 3,883 offender samples in the state database and 2,092 casework profiles. The CODIS system is proving to be a valuable tool in the crime-fighting arsenal.

DNA services were added to the Coastal Regional Crime Laboratory in Savannah after renovation of classroom space at the site was completed. A trained DNA scientist was transferred from the Headquarters Lab and another scientist is currently completing training. This enabled the laboratory to provide this service for the 23 counties assigned to the Coastal Lab plus nine counties from the Eastern Lab.

FY'00: CODIS Hits

The following statistics have been compiled since CODIS became operational in Georgia:

59 case-to-case associations (forensic hits) within the state of Georgia. These usually involve unsolved cases that the investigating agencies do not realize are linked to a common suspect until the CODIS information is relayed.
11 cases linked to a specific offender in the state database (offender hits).
111 case investigations aided. These are the cases related to the case-to-case associations.
Four Georgia cases linked to a specific offender from another state in the national database.
Seven case-to-case associations linking Georgia cases to cases in other states using the national database.
Since January 2000, eight forensic hits and an offender hit have been found. In August, however, there were three national hits to offenders in other states. One of these cases was a 1992 Rockdale County case involving an invalid patient in a nursing home who was raped during a burglary. The DNA profile was linked to an offender in Arkansas who is serving life without parole. The investigation in this case is ongoing. As the size of the database increases, the frequency and number of "hits" on the database is expected to increase, similar to the experiences of Florida and Virginia.

Trace Evidence

The Trace Evidence Section of the GBI Headquarters Crime Laboratory provides the identification, comparison and analysis of hair, fibers, paint, plastic, glass, footwear and tire impressions, fractured materials and other miscellaneous materials. The forensic analysis, interpretation and courtroom testimony provided by the Trace Evidence Section plays a critical role in the investigation and prosecution of serious/violent crimes such as homicide, sexual assault, armed robbery, kidnapping and burglary. The timely analysis of trace materials is critical to the successful apprehension and prosecution of criminals in the state of Georgia.

The Implied Consent Section now has overall administrative and technical responsibility for a record 420 Intoxilyzer 5000 Breath Alcohol testing units and 11,323 operators in 617 law enforcement agencies.

Because of backlogs in recent years, the courts and law enforcement personnel had expressed frustration at the lack of ability by the Toxicology Section to analyze and issue reports in a reasonable length of time.

In cases involving driving under the influence of drugs (DUI-D), such unreasonable turnaround times had resulted in dismissed cases and/or interminably long incarceration for those under arrest.

In postmortem toxicology cases, continual delays in reporting of results had brought considerable financial hardships to families and undoubtedly served to prolong their pain and suffering.

Toxicology has now hired and trained 13 new toxicology scientists statewide. This was accomplished largely through the combined efforts of the Toxicology staff, DOFS management, and generous financial support from the Georgia Legislature and the Governor's Office.

As a result of the improved staffing, the average turnaround time for toxicological analysis has dropped from an average period of three to four months, to less than 30 days in most cases. (This includes DUI-D cases and postmortem toxicology cases.)

Six of the new scientists are assigned to the Headquarters Lab in Decatur, while the remaining seven are located in regional labs across the state.

Toxicology also has acquired four additional new state-of-the-art mass selective detectors for headquarters that aid considerably in the expeditious processing and analysis of data.

The net effect of added manpower and equipment has been to eliminate the backlog of cases and to reduce the time from receipt of a case to reporting of analytical results to less than 30 days. Only a year before, such a lofty goal would have appeared unimaginable.

In the area of blood alcohol testing, analysis time has dropped from 60 to 120 days to less than 30 days in most cases.

More efficient turnaround times of Implied Consent blood alcohol analysis has resulted in timely prosecutions of DUI cases.

Timely analysis of blood alcohol for medical examiners and coroners has resulted in families of the deceased obtaining death certificates and insurance payments more quickly. Eight fully-trained alcohol testing scientists and two laboratory assistants have been permanently assigned to keep the headquarters Implied Consent and Coroner Act blood alcohol caseload turn-around time at 30 days or less.

Two new state-of-the-art automated blood alcohol analyzers were purchased for headquarters, installed and have been instrumental in elimination of the case backlog.

Each of the six regional laboratories is now fully staffed with two fully-trained blood alcohol scientists and a laboratory assistant to keep their regional caseload up to date.

A new state-of-art automated blood alcohol analyzer was purchased, installed and has been in use in each regional lab.

Due to inadequate staffing, misdemeanor bad check cases and photocopied checks are still not accepted for analysis. This impacts investigations and the presentation of the state's evidence.

Additional personnel would decrease the backlog of cases and contribute to a 30-day turnaround time.

In recent years, Georgia was not alone in its shortage of trained firearms examiners; Florida was in the same situation. Both states combined resources and a new, experimental training program was designed. Two trainees from Georgia and four from Florida were sent to the Tampa Crime Lab for an intense six-month class beginning in November of 1999. This program was spearheaded by a retired Florida firearms examiner, who planned the course outline and conducted all of the training. The two trainees from Georgia returned to the Headquarters Lab in May 2000.

Officials in Georgia and Florida are extremely impressed with the success of this new way of training and a new class is being formed for this coming winter.

Deputy Director

DOFS Operations

DOFS Operations

DOFS Operations

DOFS OPERATIONS

Personnel Growth