LAPD LABORATORY PASSES TESTING; FACILITY FAULTED IN MURDER TRIAL OF O.J. SIMPSON.Byline: Deborah Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer The Los Angeles Police Department's crime lab, its reputation tarnished during the O.J. Simpson trial, announced Wednesday that it had met rigorous national standards and qualified for professional accreditation. ``With today's accreditation, the LAPD crime lab joins an elite group of facilities,'' Mayor Richard Riordan said. ``But I'm not satisfied. I believe in always doing better, and Chief (Bernard) Parks tolerates only the best.'' The lab received accreditation from the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors, a professional organization of forensic laboratory managers and supervisors. Only seven of 19 crime labs in the state have earned that status, said laboratory director Michele Kestler. Improvements to the lab included $3 million in new equipment that can identify narcotic samples and pinpoint the chemical composition of poisons. The new devices replace aging equipment that was ``like an old car - it still runs but it doesn't have all the bells and whistles A slang English term for exceptional features in some product. In the computer field, it typically refers to functions in software that may be greatly appreciated by some users, even though they may not be necessary most of the time. Bells and whistles are extra "goodies" that are often added to help make the product more appealing. Contrast with plain vanilla. and is in the shop more than on the road,'' Kestler said. The accreditation process also ushered in stricter record keeping and equipment inspection, lab officials said. The serology 1. The science that deals with the properties and reactions of serums, especially blood serum. 2. The characteristics of a disease or an organism shown by study of blood serums. se  ro·log ic, se-DNA unit, which came under scrutiny during the criminal trial that ended with Simpson being acquitted of murder, now documents every step of its analysis and uses stricter procedures for evidence handling. The narcotics unit, which previously calibrated its balances every six months, now tests them daily to ensure that chemicals are perfectly weighed, said supervising criminologist Joe Hourigan. Kestler said the lab still needs bigger facilities, however, and must continue to meet state-of-the-art standards to keep its accreditation. Councilwoman Laura Chick, chairwoman of the council's Public Safety Committee, said the lab has been hampered in recent years by poor equipment, inadequate facilities and insufficient personnel. Defense attorneys for Simpson capitalized on those shortfalls, suggesting that DNA evidence linking Simpson to the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman was improperly handled and tainted by the lab. The accreditation will help prosecution of future cases by providing quality assurance of lab findings, Kestler said. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion