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Glossary

All reference information has been culled from the Glossary page of the DNA Initiative.
Visit DNA.gov for more information »

Guides and Best Practices

Laboratory Time and Resources • Interacting With Crime Laboratories • DNA Evidence: Probative Value and Prioritization • Outsourcing Considerations • Leveraging Limited Resources • Avoiding Steep Costs • Communicating With the Legislature • Evidence Retention Policies • Best Practices for Handling “Cold Hits” • Offender Collection Statutes • Partial Matches • Familial Searching • Rapid DNA Technology

Laboratory Time and Resources

  1. Report to the Mississippi Legislature A Review of the Department of Public Safety’s Mississippi Crime Laboratory PDF download: 1MB • Visit the Mississippi Legislature PEER Report Titles 2000–2009 »
  2. Example of evidence submission criteria for a forensic laboratory: Ohio State Highway Patrol Crime Laboratory Agency Submission Guidelines Criteria for Evidence Submission PDF download: 164kB • Visit the Ohio State Highway Patrol »
  3. Delaware Department of Health and Social Services Office of the Chief Medical Examiner Forensic Sciences Laboratory: Guidelines for the Collection and Submission of Forensic Evidence PDF download: 2.3MB • Visit the Delaware Office of the Medical Examiner »
  4. Example of an on-scene response team from Washington »
  5. Arkansas State Crime Laboratory Special Report Case Prioritization and Turnaround (April 10, 2009). PDF download: 112kB • Visit the Arkansas Division of Legislative Audit »
  6. Phoenix Police Forensic Biology Overview PDF download: 1.8MB • Visit the Phoenix Police Department »
  7. FBI-CODIS Fact Sheet »
  8. Short Tandem Repeat DNA Internet Database »

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Interacting With Crime Laboratories

  1. Mark Nelson, Making Sense of DNA Backlogs, 2010 — Myths vs. Reality NIJ Special Report (2011) PDF download: 1.1MB • Visit the National Criminal Justice Reference System »
  2. Missouri Highway Patrol Crime Laboratory Department Newsletter: Under the Scope, Help Control the DNA Backlog, Vol.7, Iss.1 (2007) PDF download: 116kB • Visit the Missouri State Highway Patrol »
  3. Jeanne Hayes, Survey: Forensic Testing Turnaround Times in 50 states, Connecticut Office of Legislative Research, (2010) »
  4. Matthew J. Hickman and Joseph L. Peterson, Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories 50 Largest Crime Labs, Bureau of Justice Statistics Fact Sheet (2004) PDF download: 484kB • Visit the Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics »
  5. DNA.gov »
  6. Nancy Ritter, Solving the Problem of Untested Evidence in Sexual Assaults NIJ Special Report (2011) PDF download: 172kB
  7. Richard Williams and Sarah Hammond, Building Forensic Technology Capacity, National Conference of State Legislatures (2009) PDF download: 1.4MB • Visit the National Conference of State Legislatures »
  8. “What Does It Take to Make a Collaboration Work? Lessons Learned Through the Criminal Justice System Project” , NIJ Publication PDF download: 284kB • Visit the National Criminal Justice Reference System »
  9. National Conference of State Legislatures, Database of DNA Laws Federal Funding Sources »
  10. Federal Opportunities: The Justice for All Act »

Federal Reviews and Audits:
United States Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory’s Forensic DNA Case Backlog (2010) PDF download: 996kB • Visit the United States Department of Justice FBI Reports »
Response to OIG Audit of the FBI Laboratory’s Forensic DNA Case Backlog (2010) »

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DNA Evidence: Probative Value and Prioritization

  1. National Institute of Justice Increasing the Capacity of Crime Laboratories »
  2. Mark Nelson, Making Sense of DNA Backlogs, 2010 — Myths vs. Reality NIJ Special Report (2011) PDF download: 1.1MB • Visit the National Criminal Justice Reference System »
  3. Example of Ohio’s evidence submission protocol. PDF download: 860kB • Visit the Ohio Attorney General Law Enforcement Gateway Forms »
  4. Visit the Office for Victims of Crime Sexual Assault Response Teams (SART) Toolkit »
  5. Nugent-Borakove et al., Testing the Efficacy of SANE/SART Programs: Do They Make a Difference in Sexual Assault Arrest & Prosecution Outcomes? 2006 PDF download: 2.7MB • Visit the National Criminal Justice Reference System »
  6. Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Forensic Science Laboratory Guide to DNA Analysis PDF download: 448kB • Visit the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension »
  7. Simon Ashikhmin, Susan G. Berdine, Mitchell R. Morrissey, and Greggory S. LaBerge, Effectiveness and Cost Efficiency of DNA Evidence in Volume Crime Denver Colorado Site Summary PDF download: 80kB 
  8. The President’s DNA Initiative: Online Training for Officers and Investigators »
  9. Illinois State Police upcoming training programs »
  10. Bureau of Justice Assistance Law Enforcement Training Database »
  11. DNA Laws Database Table PDF download: 696kB • Visit the National Conference of State Legislatures »
  12. Washington Senate Bill 5240 PDF download: 76kB • Visit the Washington State Legislature »
  13. Effectively Utilizing DNA Technology to Solve Crime in Orange County 2009-2010 Annual Report pp9,10 PDF download: 208kB • Visit the Orange County District Attorney »
  14. Arkansas State Crime Laboratory Special Report Case Prioritization and Turnaround (April 10, 2009). PDF download: 112kB • Visit the Arkansas Division of Legislative Audit »

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Outsourcing Considerations

  1. Bureau of Justice Statistics Survey of Publicly Funded Crime Laboratories (2005) »
  2. Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab Operations Bulletin (2009) PDF download: 516kB • Visit the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Division of Forensic Sciences »
  3. FBI Quality Assurance Standards for Outsourcing See Section 17 »

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Leveraging Limited Resources

  1. Presentation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Offender DNA Collection Instructions for Completing the DNA Collection Process. PDF download: 3.8MB • Visit the Missouri State Highway Patrol Publications »
  2. Utah Department of Forensic Services, Public Safety Crime Scene Investigation / Reconstruction »
  3. Illinois State Police FY 2010 DNA Testing Accountability Report PDF download: 164kB • Visit the Illinois State Police »
  4. Effectively Utilizing DNA Technology to Solve Crime in Orange County 2009-2010 Annual Report pp9,10 PDF download: 208kB • Visit the Orange County, Office of the District Attorney »
  5. Arkansas State Crime Laboratory Special Report Case Prioritization and Turnaround (April 10, 2009). PDF download: 112kB • Visit the Arkansas Division of Legislative Audit »
  6. Colorado DNA training for police announced.  » Examples of the course list. »
  7. Example of Missouri Highway Patrol crime laboratory packaging: information in department newsletter: Under the Scope, Vol.1, Iss.3 (2001) PDF download: 124kB | Also available on their website »
  8. Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation - Criminalistics Services Division (OSBI CSD) Evidence Packaging and Sealing Guidelines PDF download: 56kB • Visit the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation »
  9. Technical Working Group on Crime Scene Investigation, Crime Scene Investigation: A Guide for Law Enforcement, National Institute of Justice Publication (2000). PDF download: 308kB • Visit the National Criminal Justice Reference System »

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Avoiding Steep Costs

  1. Wisconsin Review of State Crime Lab Resources for DNA Analysis (2007) PDF download: 164kB • Visit the Wisconsin Department of Justice Reports and Documents »
  2. Committee on Identifying the Needs of the Forensic Sciences Community, National Research Council, Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States, A Path Forward, The National Academy of Sciences Press (2009). PDF download: 3.5MB • Visit the National Criminal Justice Reference System »
  3. Louisiana RS 15:502 »
  4. High-Priority Criminal Justice Technology Needs 2010 NIJ Publication PDF download: 920kB • Visit the National Criminal Justice Reference Service »
  5. Simon Ashikhmin, Susan G. Berdine, Mitchell R. Morrissey, and Greggory S. LaBerge, Effectiveness and Cost Efficiency of DNA Evidence in Volume Crime Denver Colorado Site Summary pp5,6 PDF download: 80kB • Visit the Denver District Attorney »
  6. What Does It Take to Make a Collaboration Work? Lessons Learned Through the Criminal Justice System Project NIJ Publication PDF download: 284kB • Visit the National Criminal Justice Reference Service »

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Communicating With the Legislature

  1. National Conference of State Legislatures Database of DNA laws »
  2. Richard Williams and Sarah Hammond, Building Forensic Technology Capacity, National Conference of State Legislatures: (Nov. 2009) PDF download: 1.4MB
  3. New York All Crimes Convictions DNA Podcast – Governor’s Bill (April 28, 2010) • Read excerpt »
  4. New York State, Division of Criminal Justice Services Enhancing Public Safety and Improving Criminal Justice Report pp16 PDF download: 1.1MB • Visit the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services »
  5. Kyle I. Jen, Senior Fiscal Analyst Michigan’s Forensic DNA Database (2003) PDF download: 140kB • Visit the Michigan House Fiscal Agency »
  6. The Compiler: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority: State crime labs struggle to keep up with demand (2001). PDF download: 4.6MB • Visit the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority »
  7. Illinois State Police 2004 DNA Testing Accountability Report PDF download: 144kB • Visit the Illinois State Police »
  8. Bruce Frederick, James A. Gilmer, and David Van Alstyne Expanding the Offender Index of the New York State DNA Data Bank PDF download: 80kB • View the report online »
  9. California Crime Laboratory Review Task Force An Examination of Forensic Science in California (2009) PDF download: 3.7MB • Visit the State of California Department of Justice Publications »
  10. New York Office of Forensic Services »
  11. Report from California Crime Lab Directors on their view of statewide forensic oversight. PDF download: 720kB • Visit the California Association of Criminalists »
  12. Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions Research Details pp 91–105). PDF download: 1.4MB • Visit the Texas Office of Court Administration Task Force on Indigent Defense »
  13. In 2011, at least 9 states and the federal government are considering new arrestee laws or expansions of their current arrestee laws. As part of this process Katie Sepich’s family » has gone on a tour to talk to legislatures about their perspective on arrestee legislation, including New Mexico, Nevada and Washington.

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Evidence Retention Policies

  1. National Institute of Justice, Postconviction DNA Testing: Recommendations for Handling Requests PDF download: 448kB • Visit the National Criminal Justice Reference System »
  2. William P. Kiley, M.S., Focus on Forensics, The Effects of DNA Advances on Police Property Rooms March 2009 »
    Examples of state work group’s commissioned to evaluate their evidence retention practices:
  3. Ohio Biological Evidence Task Force »
  4. Montana: Emerging DNA Issues PDF download: 2.2MB • Visit the Montana Law and Justice Interim Committee 2009-2010 Reports »
  5. California: California Executive Letter From the Attorney General PDF download: 532kB • Visit the State of California Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General Publications »
  6. Colorado: DNA Working Group »
  7. The President’s DNA Initiative, Solving Cold Cases With DNA »
  8. Arizona: Report on Best Practices for Cold Case Task Force PDF download: 404kB • Visit the Arizona Attorney General Law Enforcement Publications »
  9. Colorado Cold Case Task Force »
  10. DNA Laws Database, State Biological Evidence Retention Statutes PDF download: 692kB • Visit the National Conference of State Legislatures »
  11. Optimal storage conditions for highly dilute DNA samples: A role for Trehalose as a preserving agent S. Smith, P.A. Morin, Journal of Forensic Sciences, Volume 50, Issue 5, September 2005, pp 1–8 PDF download: 172kB

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Best Practices for Handling “Cold Hits”

  1. Traditional statistics for tracking cold hits are “cold hits” themselves and investigations aided. for example, Maryland tracks this information »
  2. DPS Chaparral (August 2010) Texas recently reached its 5000th cold hit. PDF download: 1.8MB • Visit the DPA Chaparral archive »
  3. Massachusetts DNA Database Metric for 2008 PDF download: 2.3MB • Visit the Commonwealth of Massachusetts »
  4. Terrence Newsome, M.S., Kirby Everhart, M.P.A.A, Process Evaluation for the California Cold Hit Program (2003) PDF download: 76kB • Visit the California Emergency Management Agency »
  5. DNA.gov definition of cold Hit: “When CODIS recognizes a match between an offender and forensic profile, it is referred to as a ‘cold hit.’ ”
  6. Matthew Gabriel, Cherisse Boland, Cydne Holt, Beyond the Cold Hit: Measuring the Impact of the National DNA Data Bank On Public Safety At the City and County Level, 38 J.L. Med. & Ethics 396 Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics (Summer, 2010)  »
  7. Connecticut: examples of cold case successes »
  8. Criminal Histories of Sex Offenders Identified Through DNA “Cold Hits” PDF download: 48kB
  9. Criminal Practice Report – Scientific Evidence, Methodologies for calculating significance of cold hit DNA match satisfied Frye, 20 No. 2 Crim. Prac. Rep. 7 (Jan. 2006) PDF download: 127kB
  10. New Hampshire, Annual report of their state cold case team 2010 PDF download: 2.3MB • Visit the New Hampshire Department of Justice Cold Case Unit »
  11. Colorado Cold Case Task Force Annual Reports »
  12. Colorado Attorney General’s Office Example of education course for peace officers in cold case units PDF download: 76kB • Visit the Colorado Cold Case Task Force »
  13. Arizona, Cold Case Task Force Report (2007) PDF download: 404kB • Visit the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission Cold Case Information »
  14. Hawaii, Cold Case Squad Fiscal Report (2006) PDF download: 68kB • Visit the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General 2006 Reports »
  15. Frederick R. Bieber, Turning Base Hits Into Earned Runs: Improving the Effectiveness of Forensic DNA Databank Programs, Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics, 34 J.L. Med. & Ethics 222 (2006)
  16. CO HB 07-1272 PDF download: 40kB • Visit the Colorado Cold Case Task Force »
  17. Colorado Cold Case Task Force meets a few times a year, charted on their website »
    18. New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services 2009 Crimestat Report PDF download: 876kB • Visit the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services »
  18. Cold Hit Outcome Project Website »
  19. Congressman Adam Schiff: Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2011 »

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Offender Collection Statutes

  1. Robin Cheryl Miller, Validity, Construction and Operation of State DNA Databases, 76 ALR 5th 239 PDF download: 372kB
  2. Kyle I. Jen, Senior Fiscal Analyst Michigan’s Forensic DNA Database (2003) PDF download: 140kB • Visit the Michigan House Fiscal Agency »
  3. Bruce Frederick, James A. Gilmer, and David J. van Alstyne Expanding the Offender Index of the New York State DNA Data Bank (January 2002) » • Formal Report PDF download: 180kB
  4. California’s assessment before implementing proposition 69 » • California State Controller DNA Penalty Assessment (Proposition 69) Distribution Guideline PDF download: 68kB
  5. State of Arizona Office of the Auditor General Performance Audit PDF download: 596kB • Visit the State of Arizona Office of the Auditor General Department of Public Safety Reports »
  6. Wisconsin Department of Justice State Crime Laboratory DNA Collection and Submission Training Guide PDF download: 1.1MB • Visit the Wisconsin Department of Justice Crime Laboratory System »
  7. National Conference of State Legislatures DNA Laws Database »
  8. New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services 2009 Annual Performance Report PDF download: 1.4MB • Visit the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services »
  9. Wisconsin Department of Justice DNA Biological Specimen Collection Initiative Letter PDF download: 236kMB • Summary »

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Partial Matches

  1. Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods Ad Hoc Committee on Partial Matches: SWGDAM Recommendations to the FBI Director on the “Interim Plan for the Release of Information in the Event of a ‘Partial Match’ at NDIS”, Forensic Science Communications October 2009, Volume 11, Number 4.
  2. Bruce Budowle et al.: Clarification of Statistical Issues Related to the Operation of CODIS PDF download: 120kB
  3. Federal Bureau of Investigation Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) Homepage »
  4. DNA Initiative: Federal Legislation »
  5. Center for American Progress, Science Progress: DNA Confidential PDF download: 168kB • Summary »

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Familial Searching

  1. Frederick R. Bieber, Charles H. Brenner, David Lazer, Finding Criminals Through DNA of Their Relatives, May 11, 2006. (Registration Required)
  2. Edmund G. Brown Jr., Attorney General, DNA Partial Match (Crime Scene DNA Profile to Offender) Policy, Bureau of Forensic Services (Jan. 2008) PDF download: 48kB
  3. The State of Colorado’s DNA Familial Search Policy, Colorado Bureau of Investigations policy statement, 10/22/09 PDF download: 640kB
  4. S.P. Myers et al., Searching for first-degree familial relationships in California’s Offender DNA database: Validation of a likelihood ratio-based approach, Forensic Sci. Int. Genet. (2010), doi:10.1016/j.fsigen.2010.10.010 PDF download: 340kB
  5. Frederick R. Bieber et al., Finding Criminals Through DNA of Their Relatives, 312 Sci. 1315, 1315–16 (2006)
  6. State of California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, Press Release: California’s Familial DNA Search Program Identifies Suspected “Grim Sleeper” Serial Killer » (July 07, 2010)
  7. Jim Spellman, Using relative’s DNA cracks crime, but privacy questions raised » CNN.com (Nov. 18, 2009)
  8. Find a more thorough discussion of “partial matches” and their relationship to familial DNA searching »
  9. Office of the Attorney General, Press Release: California’s Familial DNA Search Program Identifies Suspected “Grim Sleeper” Serial Killer », (July 07, 2010)
  10. 60 Minutes: A Not So Perfect Match », (July 15, 2007)
  11. Library of Congress: Bill Text, 111th Congress (2009-2010), H.R.6011.IH Utilizing DNA Technology to Solve Cold Cases Act of 2010
  12. Schiff Congratulates the FBI on Eliminating the Backlog of Offender DNA
  13. DNA Identification Act, 42 United StatesC. 14132.
  14. California Penal Code Section 296.
  15. Code of Virginia Section 19.2-310.5
  16. An “offender hit” can only be described as a match between an offender and a forensic unknown from a crime scene. The FBI’s CODIS website » describes it best—CODIS’s primary metric, the “Investigation Aided,” tracks the number of criminal investigations where CODIS has added value to the investigative process. in other words, it is unknown whether or not the crime is solved or a conviction was attained. Clearly a familial search investigative lead can similarly provide “added value to the investigative process.”
  17. CODIS has produced many self-imposed practices that are not themselves explicitly authorized by state or federal laws—e.g., number of loci needed to upload a profile, guidelines for uploading mixture profiles, and the recommendations from the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods Ad Hoc Committee on Partial Matches: SWGDAM Recommendations to the FBI Director on the “Interim Plan for the Release of Information in the Event of a ‘Partial Match’ at NDIS” are only a few of many such practices that are not explicitly authorized by statute but are routinely utilized in support of CODIS.
  18. Maryland Public Safety Article Section 2-506(d); District of Columbia Omnibus Public Safety and Justice Amendment Act of 2009 Section 218.2(b).
  19. Maryland Public Safety Code § 2-506(d)
  20. DC ST§ 22-4151
  21. Mass. Regs. Code tit. 515, § 2.14
  22. Daniel J. Grimm The Demographics of Genetic Surveillance: Familial DNA Testing and the Hispanic Community PDF download: 116kB • Visit the Columbia Law Review »
  23. Police and Security News Sept/Oct 2008 V24, I5, pp56-60: Familial DNA: It’s All in the Family PDF download: 320kB • Visit the Denver District Attorney »
  24. Genetic Information in Minnesota: A Report to the Minnesota State Legislature PDF download: 3.7MB • Visit the Minnesota North Star
  25. The Boston Globe: “Whodunit? Family members’ DNA may lead investigators to the answers, but using it as a forensic technique brings up some troubling questions” »
  26. Testimony presented by Stephen Mercer, Esq. by letter dated February 15, 2008
  27. Los Angeles Times: Pizza slice helped link suspect to Grim Sleeper serial killings, sources say » (July 7, 2010)
  28. ABC News, Nightline: Notorious ‘Grim Sleeper’ Serial Killer Nabbed? » (July 7, 2010)
  29. Associated Press: Police make arrest in ‘Grim Sleeper’ killings »
  30. The California protocol allows for a case to be resubmitted one year after an unsuccessful familial search.
  31. Familial searching in the UK, while quite successful, does not necessarily require the use of Y-STRs to confirm the likelihood of a close familial relationship before any names are disclosed to investigators. Instead it appears that the entire list of candidates is provided to investigators, who pursue them as they see fit. Media accounts of some of these investigations reveal that the investigators routinely interview relatives of those on the candidate list for investigative purposes and to seek exclusion/inclusion confirmation samples. While this practice may be successful in the UK, it is unlikely to be adopted in the United States. For one, law enforcement investigative resources are limited. Expecting there to be a follow-up investigation on all relatives of those roughly 168 offenders on the candidate list is too much to ask. When those limited investigative resources are compared to the approximate expense of $40 per Y-STR test, it is clearly more cost-effective to eliminate all, or all but one, of the 168 candidate offenders. In addition, restricting disclosure until there is a Y-STR corroboration addresses many of the privacy concerns expressed to date.
  32. F.R. Bieber, C.H. Brenner, D. Lazar, Finding Criminals Through DNA of Their Relatives, Science 312 (2006) 1315–1316.

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Rapid DNA Technology

  1. National Institute of Justice: Forensic DNA Research and Development Miniaturization and Automation
  2. Network Biosystems
  3. MicroLab Diagnostics & Lockheed Martin
  4. IntegenX
  5. University of Arizona College of Medicine and the Forensic Sciences Services

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