By Matthew Artz and Chris De Benedetti
Bay Area News Group
Updated: 10/19/2012 08:23:36 PM PDT
Alameda County law enforcement officials disagree with a grand jury recommendation to develop a consolidated crime lab, effectively leaving Oakland to continue making due with its understaffed and outdated lab.
The grand jury issued a scathing report of Oakland's lab in June, finding that at one point last year there were nearly 1,000 outstanding sexual assault and homicide cases where key evidence still hadn't been tested.
To help resolve the backlog, the grand jury recommended that the county develop a consolidated crime lab bringing together the resources of Oakland and the county, which also operates a lab.
However, last month county law enforcement leaders rejected the recommendation, noting that the county lacked the money and political will to develop a consolidated crime lab.
"Without political support for consolidation and political leadership supporting the establishment of consistent and reliable funding, any endeavor to implement regional consolidation of crime lab services will remain an unfulfilled vision," wrote Albany police Chief Mike McQuiston.
McQuiston heads the Alameda County Chiefs of Police and Sheriffs Association, which the grand jury required to respond to its recommendation. The grand jury a decade ago had also urged county law enforcement officials to consider a consolidated crime lab. It has no power to force agencies to carry out its recommendations.
Meanwhile, Oakland has secured a $408,000 federal grant that will pay for two full-time employees to help reduce the backlog of more than 2,000 cases.
To fully staff the crime lab, Oakland would need to hire 13 workers at a cost of $1.3 million, according to a police report.
In June, a few days after the grand jury released its findings, the council narrowly rejected funding an additional crime lab worker and instead approved budget amendments that included more than $1 million for city workers by canceling a scheduled work furlough day.
http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_21813353/citywise-no-major-relief-beleaguered-oakland-crime-lab
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