County morgue needs to be a higher priority

County morgue needs to be a higher priority
Posted: 02/24/2009 12:04:40 AM PST

IT IS A TOUGH TIME to justify spending several million dollars to create a county morgue. The county has made do without a properly equipped facility for decades.

The need for a modern county morgue has been apparent for years.

Ten years ago, the Marin civil grand jury looked into the issue and concluded - without reservation - that the county needed a central morgue.

The current grand jury took another look and reached the same conclusion.

"Establishment of an up-to-date forensics facility and morgue is long overdue in Marin," the report states. "The problem today is more acute."

Last year, a pathology firm canceled its contract with the county to handle crime-related cases. According to the grand jury report, because of the substandard conditions at the mortuaries, the pathologist "would be unable to testify in court that any autopsy had been properly conducted."

Since then, the county has been using Napa's county morgue for several sensitive cases, but for most autopsies, it contracts with three Marin mortuaries at $225 per case.

A central morgue has many obvious advantages, including more efficient response in homicide cases and safer and more professional conditions for coroner personnel and their investigations. It would also offer tighter safeguards to protect autopsies from security breaches that could compromise findings and raise legal questions about investigations.

Officials have been reluctant to include space for a morgue in the public
safety building the county plans to build across from the Marin Civic Center. Finding room for a central morgue in that building or in Civic Center space that will be available when the new building opens makes sense. But that would be, at best, several years away.

Officials also want to avoid a repeat of the political skirmish that erupted over the county's plan to move the morgue to the Mt. Tamalpais Cemetery in San Rafael. Neighbors of the cemetery worried that the morgue would increase traffic on Fifth Avenue.

With an average of 222 autopsies per year, the traffic generated by a morgue wouldn't even be noticed at the bustling county government complex.

The county is now considering renting 12,000 square feet of space on East Francisco Boulevard in San Rafael with an option to buy. An estimated $1.75 million already set aside for a morgue could be used to remodel the site and buy equipment.

That is an encouraging development. The site could be a long-term home for a morgue, although security and convenience might be better at the Civic Center.

We strongly agree with the latest grand jury report.

A modern, centrally located morgue needs to be a top priority at the Civic Center. This is a public safety issue that has been ignored for far too long.

http://www.marinij.com/opinion/ci_11772289