"This is great news for DPS and, more than that, it is desperately needed," Governor Napolitano said. "Our crime lab is not just a valuable asset for Arizonans, but for the entire country. Its contributions have helped public safety departments from across the nation."
For almost 20 years Arizona DPS has been a pioneer in forensic DNA analysis and is currently one of the three departments nationwide providing the most cutting-edge DNA techniques for the analysis of crime scene evidence. In addition, Arizona DPS is also responsible for perfecting a DNA procedure for the recovery of DNA from bones when crime labs worldwide are having extremely limited success.
The new facility will allow for five to seven new personnel to work at the Tucson location. These personnel are currently in the Phoenix lab facility due to lack of space in Tucson. They will accommodate the 300 percent workload increase in Tucson over the last seven years.
Additionally, the increased space will allow for a 15 to 25 percent increase in efficiency by eliminating the "bottleneck" that occurs when scientists need to wait in lines to use equipment. The additional space will allow for new DNA testing currently unavailable in Tucson, which will allow DPS Crime Lab to remain at the forefront of DNA testing.
Expected completion of the new Crime Lab is January 2009.
