Governor Rell: Stimulus Funding Will

Bolster DNA Collection, Database

            Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that the state will use nearly $2 million from the federal stimulus package to sharply accelerate the rate of DNA testing on state prison inmates and to speed up the processing of new and existing DNA samples at the Department of Public Safety forensics laboratory in Meriden.

            A $170,000 stimulus grant will be used to speed up the collection of DNA samples from inmates in state prisons who have been convicted of felonies and certain serious misdemeanors. The state will also use a $1.8 million stimulus grant to continue funding more than 10 positions at the forensics laboratory so they can continue to process about 12,000 existing DNA samples and handle the influx of new samples.

            “In the past, samples from inmates have been collected as part of the process of preparing that person for release after they have served their sentence,” Governor Rell said. “Now, samples are being collected from current inmates and from new arrivals as soon as they enter the system. This not only helps to build our database, it could help solve cold cases where DNA evidence exists – and there is the chance it could end the heartbreak for someone who has been erroneously convicted.

            “We also want to clear the remaining samples that need to be processed at the Meriden lab and make sure the new samples are entered into the database as rapidly as possible,” the Governor said.

            “Our goals are simple: Solving more cases and putting more criminals away,” Governor Rell said. “We want to see more cases resolved more quickly – something that not only will bring justice to victims in a far more timely fashion but will reduce costs for the courts and the entire judicial system. Given that many crimes are committed by repeat offenders, making DNA evidence more widely available will help us catch these predators more swiftly and prevent re-victimization of the community.”

            The grant of $170,000 will add four new, temporary jobs – meeting a stimulus goal of adding jobs – and pay for the kits needed to collect samples from about 4,000 convicted felons currently in prison.

            The $1.8 million grant will support a total of 11 laboratory technologist positions at the forensics lab in Meriden to do DNA analysis. Eight of the positions were previously supported by federal grants that have expired and were assigned to duties other than DNA sample processing. These jobs will be retained – meeting another key goal of the stimulus package – and shifted to work on the backlog of existing DNA samples. The three other positions – which had been designated as temporary durational jobs – will also be retained.

            After December 31, 2010, when the backlog of existing samples is expected to be eliminated, the number of lab positions will be reduced to six and the technicians will focus on processing the new samples from the Department of Correction.

            Connecticut’s DNA database was established in 1993, under a law mandating the collection of a sample from persons convicted of any of seven felony sexual assault crimes. In 1998, the number of crimes requiring DNA collection was increased to 31. In 2003, the database was expanded to include samples from all convicted felons.

            “The DNA database remains one of the best items in our crime-fighting toolkit,” Governor Rell said. “The funding from the stimulus will help us keep it in top working order.”