State Crime Lab Reduces Backlog
By: Brittney Johnson
Updated: April 3, 2012
The Arkansas State Crime lab has 4,200 cases waiting to be processed right now. It may seem like a lot, but executive director says they are making progress, just a few years ago they were 16,000 cases behind.
Executive Director Kermit Channel says the lab relying on grant money to help add new positions and new technology to help process evidence faster, but now an influx of property crimes is adding weight to their case load.
"We have a lot of property crimes coming in and we try to pay attention to those and keep in mind we have to focus on homicides and sexual assault cases," said Channel.
Channel says they're developing newer strategies to help solve property crimes. Property crimes are a lower priority than homicides and other more violent crimes but evidence from theft cases is often used to help solve violent crimes.
Executive Director Kermit Channel says the lab relying on grant money to help add new positions and new technology to help process evidence faster, but now an influx of property crimes is adding weight to their case load.
"We have a lot of property crimes coming in and we try to pay attention to those and keep in mind we have to focus on homicides and sexual assault cases," said Channel.
Channel says they're developing newer strategies to help solve property crimes. Property crimes are a lower priority than homicides and other more violent crimes but evidence from theft cases is often used to help solve violent crimes.
