U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice ProgramsNational Institute of JusticeThe Research, Development, and Evaluation Agency of the U.S. Department of Justice DNA Evidence Backlog: DNA Casework Trends — Supply, Demand, Backlogs
The federal funding made available through the DNA Initiative has helped state and local governments increase the capacity of their DNA laboratories and decrease backlogs. Without the funds to purchase automated workstations and high-throughput instruments, hire new personnel, and validate procedures that are more efficient, the backlog problem would be much worse. Capacity has yet to reach the increased demand for this testing. Until demand is met, there will continue to be backlogs.
From the beginning of 2005 through the end of 2009, the total DNA cases to be processed increased by almost 216,000 but DNA laboratories were only able to increase their capacity to meet about 64% of that demand. Thus, the number of yearend backlog cases increased from about 30,000 in 2005 to nearly 112,000 in 2009. The table DNA Casework Trends: Supply, Demand, Backlogs shows for each of the years 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009 the previous year's backlog, the total new cases to be processed, the number of cases completed that year, and the yearend backlog.
| Year | Beginning Backlog | New Requests | Completed | Ending Backlog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 24,030 | 67,009 | 52,812 | 38,227 |
| 2007 | 54,021 | 137,408 | 122,895 | 68,543 |
| 2008 | 70,693 | 176,919 | 150,510 | 97,102 |
| 2009 | 100,628 | 207,438 | 196,419 | 111,647 |
Sources
2005 — The 2005 data is based on information from the Bureau of Justice Statistics report "Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories." In that report, 124 of 187 laboratories that self-identified as handling forensic DNA contributed data. Durose, Matthew R., Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories, 2005 (pdf, 12 pages), Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, July 2008, NCJ 222181.
2007 — The 2007 data is based on data reported by 153 of 154 laboratories in the study "2007 DNA Evidence and Offender Analysis Measurement: DNA Backlogs, Capacity and Funding. "See National Forensic Science Technology Center, 2007 DNA Evidence and Offender Analysis Measurement: DNA Backlogs, Capacity and Funding (pdf, 32 pages), final report to NIJ from grant 2006-MU-BX-K002, January 2010, NCJ 230328.
2008 — Data for 2008, reported by applicants for NIJ's 2009 DNA Backlog Reduction Program, come from 109 applicants representing 160 DNA laboratories.
2009 — Data for 2009, reported by applicants for NIJ's 2010 DNA Backlog Reduction Program, come from 112 applicants representing 168 laboratories.
In both 2008 and 2009 applications to NIJ, state laboratory systems with multiple DNA laboratories or consortium applications representing more than one laboratory were asked to provide data for all laboratories included in the application.
Yearend backlog numbers were computed from the information reported by laboratories: the number of cases they had at the beginning of the year plus the number of new requests they received during that year minus the number of those requests that were completed that year.
The federal funding made available through the DNA Initiative has helped state and local governments increase the capacity of their DNA laboratories and decrease backlogs. Without the funds to purchase automated workstations and high-throughput instruments, hire new personnel, and validate procedures that are more efficient, the backlog problem would be much worse. Capacity has yet to reach the increased demand for this testing. Until demand is met, there will continue to be backlogs.
Sources
2005 — The 2005 data is based on information from the Bureau of Justice Statistics report "Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories." In that report, 124 of 187 laboratories that self-identified as handling forensic DNA contributed data. Durose, Matthew R., Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories, 2005 (pdf, 12 pages), Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, July 2008, NCJ 222181.
2007 — The 2007 data is based on data reported by 153 of 154 laboratories in the study "2007 DNA Evidence and Offender Analysis Measurement: DNA Backlogs, Capacity and Funding. "See National Forensic Science Technology Center, 2007 DNA Evidence and Offender Analysis Measurement: DNA Backlogs, Capacity and Funding (pdf, 32 pages), final report to NIJ from grant 2006-MU-BX-K002, January 2010, NCJ 230328.
2008 — Data for 2008, reported by applicants for NIJ's 2009 DNA Backlog Reduction Program, come from 109 applicants representing 160 DNA laboratories.
2009 — Data for 2009, reported by applicants for NIJ's 2010 DNA Backlog Reduction Program, come from 112 applicants representing 168 laboratories.
In both 2008 and 2009 applications to NIJ, state laboratory systems with multiple DNA laboratories or consortium applications representing more than one laboratory were asked to provide data for all laboratories included in the application.
Yearend backlog numbers were computed from the information reported by laboratories: the number of cases they had at the beginning of the year plus the number of new requests they received during that year minus the number of those requests that were completed that year.
Back to: DNA Evidence Backlogs: Forensic Casework.