Connecticut authorities cheered Tuesday restoration of accreditation to Connecticut’s top crime lab, which had been cut off from the FBI’s key DNA database.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced that the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors had restored recertification that the lab lost last August in the wake of problems, including a case backlog stretching back years.
“The decision today by the accreditation panel is welcomed news and certainly a positive step forward as we continue making improvements to restore the state’s crime lab,” said Governor Malloy. “As I’ve said before, prior years of allowing dwindling resources for the lab resulted in an intolerable backlog and undermined our criminal justice system.”
Office of Policy & Management Under Secretary Mike Lawlor, a former state lawmaker with a criminal justice background, also hailed the move.
“With this good news, we can immediately seek full access to the FBI DNA data bank, and we are optimistic that will happen soon,” Lawlor said.
