As reported by Justine Greene - St. Augustine Record July 30, 2010
The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office will soon join a short list of agencies in Florida who use their own local databank for forensic DNA evidence, story Sheriff David Shoar.
SJCSO will be outsourcing to a private company, DNA SI Labs in North Carolina, to establish a countywide database of DNA samples to help solve local crimes, he said.
The Local DNA Index System (LODIS) program will allow every deputy to swab for DNA samples through touch, blood or bodily fluids samples left at crime scenes, he said.
"We've only been able to send DNA samples to the regional (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) lab in Jacksonville for very serious crimes, like sexual battery or murders, in the past," Shoar said. "Then we wait for weeks at a time for the results.
"Those labs are inundated with requests all the time."
On the local level, LODIS mimics the Combined DNA Index System, the national DNA database funded by the FBI.
By creating their own local database, Shoar said deputies can use the DNA evidence to help solve more local crimes, such as break-ins and thefts.
"There are only a small percentage of people who commit crimes like car breaks-ins," Shoar said. "By collecting the DNA samples on a string of break-ins, we can connect multiple crimes to one offender."
Shoar hopes to help build the DNA database by collecting samples during the booking process at the jail in addition to swabbing for samples at crime scenes.
Shoar believes this process, which will take only one two-hour training session to equip deputies with the necessary knowledge to use the swab kits and software, is more accurate than fingerprinting.
"With fingerprints, it's very difficult to get a clear print, and the powder we use is messy," he said. "For LODIS, it's just a quick swab, and then it's sent off to the lab and recorded into the system."
Shoar said he was interested in bringing the idea into St. Johns County after seeing it work effectively for the Palm Bay Police Department near Melbourne.
PBPD was the first agency in Florida to introduce the LODIS system in 2007, according to Palm Bay Police Chief Bill Berger.
In one case, PBPD officers were able to link a string of burglaries to one suspect through LODIS. When officers responded to a separate shoplifting case around the same time as the burglaries, they were able to link the suspect's DNA to those of the burglaries, according to an article in Police Chief Magazine.
Shoar said he will measure the success of the LODIS system based on the number of cases closed and arrests made from LODIS results. The first year of the project will serve as a preliminary trial to see if the program is worth continuing, he said. He hopes to have the LODIS program in everyday use by January.
"It's going to come down to how many cases we solve and how many people we put away through using LODIS," Shoar said.
The program is being paid for through money obtained by drug confiscations, he said.
"This system is allowing us to operate more quickly and independently," Shoar said. "And we hope it help us solve more crimes."
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Forensic Magazine Article
Very informative Local DNA Database article in Forensic Magazine this month featuring success of Palm Bay, FL program and pointing out benefits realized with their program. Check it out below.
The DNA Connection: Local Databases
By: Chris Asplen Issue: April/May 2010
In 2008 the Palm Bay Police Department, under the leadership of Chief William Berger, received the prestigious August Vollmer Award for Excellence in Forensic Science from the International Association of Chiefs of Police.The award was for leveraging the power of DNA and DNA databases in the way it was envisioned but has not yet been achieved—to solve crime quickly and efficiently enough to actually prevent future crime. By turning DNA profiles around quickly and by putting hit information into the hands of all officers immediately, the Palm Bay Police Department, with its local DNA databasing system(LODIS), has effectively implemented DNA technology and databasing as an investigative tool. It’s an impressive system that has driven crime down in Palm Bay and saved its residents $6million in property loss; a 50% reduction in one year.What’s unfortunate is that this program is considered innovative.
So what’s so different about the Palm Bay program?Most important, this database is local. Chief Berger is acting on a basic tenant of crime, particularly property crime—most criminals don’t make the effort to travel far.One hundred profiles in his local database are more likely to solve a case than five thousand profiles in California, Pennsylvania, or any other state.
They also take DNA voluntarily from suspects, a lot of suspects. And as more departments understand the potential here and begin to actually investigate cases with DNA—not through a CODIS based NDIS system, but through a local system with quick turnaround times—there will be challenges and fear mongering about “rogue” databases. Let it come.Most of the objections will be rather hypocritical. Last month, as I read a CNN article on ACLU lawsuits about wrongful arrests in Denver and elsewhere, I could not escape the irony.This is the same group filing class action lawsuits in several states challenging arrestee databasing. By its very nature, a DNA database exonerates more people than it will ever implicate. This isn’t complex calculus. It’s really pretty simple,more effective and efficient investigations lead to fewer wrongful arrests.And the faster the testing, the faster the exoneration.
Thus, the key component to this program is a commitment to quick turnaround time. Their laboratory has results tested and in the database in thirty days.And as a result, police have a piece of evidence that actually helps them solve a case rather than simply confirming an investigation they have already solved after six or eight months of traditional—and more expensive—investigation based on evidence less reliable thanDNA.This isn’t CODIS and the data isn’t uploaded to CODIS.And the project manager, John Blackledge, Major of the Investigations Unit, doesn’t really care. It is more important to be local and fast.
For all its successes, its hits, investigations aided, cases solved, even unexpected exonerations,CODIS has yet to reach its potential as a time and resource saving investigative tool. Any process that involves investigators waiting for six months to a year for forensic test results is not an investigative tool. It hasn’t saved police any time. It hasn’t saved themanymoney.And common, everyday property crimes, the bulk of most police departments’work,will be closed out “unsolved” to make room for next month’s onslaught.
From a law enforcement perspective, let’s look at what CODIS has generated and what it hasn’t. Importantly, the explosion of “cold case” units, institutes, programs, and protocols are primarily the result of CODIS.The DNA database has given police a reason to go back to old cases with a renewed sense of purpose and optimism. Thousands of cold cases have been solved and in doing so, future crimes prevented. But here’s a tough question:How many cases were active when evidence was sent to the laboratory but went cold waiting for results from the state crime lab or waiting for technical review of private lab profiles?
What hasn’t developed in the wake of CODIS? Rapid response teams that show up to the station in the morning, check the list of database generated hits, and move out to find criminals— before they burglarize one more house, steal one more car, or worse. In fact, one of the biggest problems cited with the current system is the failure of police to follow-up on hits.
But not in Palm Bay. Officers get an e-mail when the lab gets a hit in their local database.The hit also shows up on their cruiser laptop. You know who else gets notified? Major Blackledge.Woe to the officer in Palm Bay who doesn’t follow-up on his hit within two days let alone two months or longer.
I’m not over simplifying here. I understand that there isn’t a person in the system who wouldn’t like to see faster turnaround times and greater effectiveness of DNA databases. I also understand the complexity of the relationships between the FBI, state crime labs, and the police:The FBI has the responsibility to ensure the quality and security of a very large and very complex system. State laboratories are overburdened and under funded—with guys like me advocating for even more database expansion. But the bottom line is that one Police Department (with several more on the way) has found a “workaround.”This Chief has taken ownership.
We need to recognize that there is a significant conceptual issue here that has affected our ability to maximize the potential of CODIS.We have lost the idea that this is law enforcement’s evidence. These are law enforcement’s leads. It’s not the laboratory’s evidence. It’s not the FBI’s evidence. It is the property of those tasked with protecting, on a daily basis, their friends, their family, and their neighbors from the home invasion that may become a rape, that may become a murder—and that just may happen tonight.
Chris Asplen consults with local, state, and foreign governments and law enforcement agencies on the use of forensic DNA technology. Chris is also a member of the Crime Victim Bar Association. He may be reached at casplen@gth-gov.com.
The DNA Connection: Local Databases
By: Chris Asplen Issue: April/May 2010
In 2008 the Palm Bay Police Department, under the leadership of Chief William Berger, received the prestigious August Vollmer Award for Excellence in Forensic Science from the International Association of Chiefs of Police.The award was for leveraging the power of DNA and DNA databases in the way it was envisioned but has not yet been achieved—to solve crime quickly and efficiently enough to actually prevent future crime. By turning DNA profiles around quickly and by putting hit information into the hands of all officers immediately, the Palm Bay Police Department, with its local DNA databasing system(LODIS), has effectively implemented DNA technology and databasing as an investigative tool. It’s an impressive system that has driven crime down in Palm Bay and saved its residents $6million in property loss; a 50% reduction in one year.What’s unfortunate is that this program is considered innovative.
So what’s so different about the Palm Bay program?Most important, this database is local. Chief Berger is acting on a basic tenant of crime, particularly property crime—most criminals don’t make the effort to travel far.One hundred profiles in his local database are more likely to solve a case than five thousand profiles in California, Pennsylvania, or any other state.
They also take DNA voluntarily from suspects, a lot of suspects. And as more departments understand the potential here and begin to actually investigate cases with DNA—not through a CODIS based NDIS system, but through a local system with quick turnaround times—there will be challenges and fear mongering about “rogue” databases. Let it come.Most of the objections will be rather hypocritical. Last month, as I read a CNN article on ACLU lawsuits about wrongful arrests in Denver and elsewhere, I could not escape the irony.This is the same group filing class action lawsuits in several states challenging arrestee databasing. By its very nature, a DNA database exonerates more people than it will ever implicate. This isn’t complex calculus. It’s really pretty simple,more effective and efficient investigations lead to fewer wrongful arrests.And the faster the testing, the faster the exoneration.
Thus, the key component to this program is a commitment to quick turnaround time. Their laboratory has results tested and in the database in thirty days.And as a result, police have a piece of evidence that actually helps them solve a case rather than simply confirming an investigation they have already solved after six or eight months of traditional—and more expensive—investigation based on evidence less reliable thanDNA.This isn’t CODIS and the data isn’t uploaded to CODIS.And the project manager, John Blackledge, Major of the Investigations Unit, doesn’t really care. It is more important to be local and fast.
For all its successes, its hits, investigations aided, cases solved, even unexpected exonerations,CODIS has yet to reach its potential as a time and resource saving investigative tool. Any process that involves investigators waiting for six months to a year for forensic test results is not an investigative tool. It hasn’t saved police any time. It hasn’t saved themanymoney.And common, everyday property crimes, the bulk of most police departments’work,will be closed out “unsolved” to make room for next month’s onslaught.
From a law enforcement perspective, let’s look at what CODIS has generated and what it hasn’t. Importantly, the explosion of “cold case” units, institutes, programs, and protocols are primarily the result of CODIS.The DNA database has given police a reason to go back to old cases with a renewed sense of purpose and optimism. Thousands of cold cases have been solved and in doing so, future crimes prevented. But here’s a tough question:How many cases were active when evidence was sent to the laboratory but went cold waiting for results from the state crime lab or waiting for technical review of private lab profiles?
What hasn’t developed in the wake of CODIS? Rapid response teams that show up to the station in the morning, check the list of database generated hits, and move out to find criminals— before they burglarize one more house, steal one more car, or worse. In fact, one of the biggest problems cited with the current system is the failure of police to follow-up on hits.
But not in Palm Bay. Officers get an e-mail when the lab gets a hit in their local database.The hit also shows up on their cruiser laptop. You know who else gets notified? Major Blackledge.Woe to the officer in Palm Bay who doesn’t follow-up on his hit within two days let alone two months or longer.
I’m not over simplifying here. I understand that there isn’t a person in the system who wouldn’t like to see faster turnaround times and greater effectiveness of DNA databases. I also understand the complexity of the relationships between the FBI, state crime labs, and the police:The FBI has the responsibility to ensure the quality and security of a very large and very complex system. State laboratories are overburdened and under funded—with guys like me advocating for even more database expansion. But the bottom line is that one Police Department (with several more on the way) has found a “workaround.”This Chief has taken ownership.
We need to recognize that there is a significant conceptual issue here that has affected our ability to maximize the potential of CODIS.We have lost the idea that this is law enforcement’s evidence. These are law enforcement’s leads. It’s not the laboratory’s evidence. It’s not the FBI’s evidence. It is the property of those tasked with protecting, on a daily basis, their friends, their family, and their neighbors from the home invasion that may become a rape, that may become a murder—and that just may happen tonight.
Chris Asplen consults with local, state, and foreign governments and law enforcement agencies on the use of forensic DNA technology. Chris is also a member of the Crime Victim Bar Association. He may be reached at casplen@gth-gov.com.
Monday, February 15, 2010
ROCIC and DNA:SI Training Partnership Continues
The Houston County Texas Sheriff’s Office will host DNA Collection and Local DNA Index Training in Crocket, TX on February 24, 2010 to continue the ROCIC–DNA:SI training collaboration.
On January 27, 2010, DNA:SI provided a similar training session for law enforcement investigators at ROCIC headquarters in Nashville, TN.
DNA:SI Labs first presented touch/contact DNA collection methods and Local DNA Index Systems at the Regional Organized Crime Information Center Homicide Investigator Training Seminar in Charleston, WV in October 2009. ROCIC is one of six NIJ funded RISS - Regional Information Sharing Systems programs in the United States.
DNA:SI and ROCIC look forward to an ongoing partnership bringing advanced technology to law enforcement for purposes of criminal investigations. Additional training sessions are being schedule throughout the Southeast Region on a mnthly basis.
On January 27, 2010, DNA:SI provided a similar training session for law enforcement investigators at ROCIC headquarters in Nashville, TN.
DNA:SI Labs first presented touch/contact DNA collection methods and Local DNA Index Systems at the Regional Organized Crime Information Center Homicide Investigator Training Seminar in Charleston, WV in October 2009. ROCIC is one of six NIJ funded RISS - Regional Information Sharing Systems programs in the United States.
DNA:SI and ROCIC look forward to an ongoing partnership bringing advanced technology to law enforcement for purposes of criminal investigations. Additional training sessions are being schedule throughout the Southeast Region on a mnthly basis.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Lafayette Parish Sherriff Nuestrom committed to fighting crime with advanced technology
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) -- The Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office can now get quick tests on DNA samples to be used as evidence for petty crimes rather than only for major crimes.
It has signed on with a private company in Burlington, N.C., for a system called LODIS, or Local DNA Index system.
Each patrol officer is trained to identify and collect samples, and DNA:SI Labs will create an online database for the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office.
Lt. Allen Venable, with Metro Forensics for the city and parish, says the idea is to catch and identify petty offenders before they evolve into serious criminals.
DNA:SI Labs developed the program with the Palm Bay Police Department in Florida.
Palm Bay police Maj. John Blackledge says it's done more than expected.
It has signed on with a private company in Burlington, N.C., for a system called LODIS, or Local DNA Index system.
Each patrol officer is trained to identify and collect samples, and DNA:SI Labs will create an online database for the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office.
Lt. Allen Venable, with Metro Forensics for the city and parish, says the idea is to catch and identify petty offenders before they evolve into serious criminals.
DNA:SI Labs developed the program with the Palm Bay Police Department in Florida.
Palm Bay police Maj. John Blackledge says it's done more than expected.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
DNA:SI Labs presents at ROCIC Homicide Investigators training
DNA:SI Labs presented touch/contact DNA collection methods and Local DNA Index Systems at the recent Regoional Organized Crime Information Center Homicide Invesigator Training Seminar in Charleston, WV, held 10/19-21/2009. ROCIC is one of six NIJ funded RISS - Regional Information Sharing Systems programs in the United States.
DNA:SI and ROCIC look forward to an ongoing parteniship bringing advanced technology to law enforcement for purposes of criminal investigations. DNA:SI will provided an additional training seesion for ROCIC members on January 27, 2010 at ROCIC headquarters in Nashville, TN.
DNA:SI and ROCIC look forward to an ongoing parteniship bringing advanced technology to law enforcement for purposes of criminal investigations. DNA:SI will provided an additional training seesion for ROCIC members on January 27, 2010 at ROCIC headquarters in Nashville, TN.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
LODIS featured on IACPtv
DNA:SI Labs featured on IACPtv and at the recent International Association of Police Chiefs meeting in Denver, CO. http://www.theiacp.org/About/PressCenter/tabid/81/Default.aspx
Carol Henderson of the Forensic Science Technology Center of Excellence and ncstc.org discusses the importance of forensic science in modern day policing and features DNA:SI Lab's LODIS (Local DNA Index System) project with the Palm Bay, FL Police Department.
Carol Henderson of the Forensic Science Technology Center of Excellence and ncstc.org discusses the importance of forensic science in modern day policing and features DNA:SI Lab's LODIS (Local DNA Index System) project with the Palm Bay, FL Police Department.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
DNA:SI Labs Now on Twitter
Follow DNA:SI Labs and developments in LODIS -Local DNA Index System project on Twitter.com/DNASI
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