The DNA Backlog

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The DNA Backlog November 2011

As a result of an increased awareness of the potential for DNA evidence to help We have to work together to ensure that labs
solve criminal cases, the demand for DNA testing continues to grow nationwide. have the tools they need to respond to the
Crime laboratories now process more DNA than ever before, but their expanded increased demand for analysis that is vital to
capacity cannot meet the increased demand. prosecutors and, ultimately, to crime victims.


Although no official definition exists for the DNA backlog, the National Institute of –Laurie O. Robinson

Justice (NIJ) defines a backlogged case as one that remains untested for 30 days   Assistant Attorney General

after it has been submitted to a laboratory. Because backlogs are not static—the   October 2010 Press Release
number of backlogged cases in crime laboratories changes daily—identifying exact
numbers of backlogged cases is difficult. In many laboratories, new DNA A sample of more than 2,000
submissions come in at a rate faster than case reports go out. This means the agencies found that 14 percent of
backlog of cases pending analysis is always changing—and growing. Until the unsolved homicide cases (an
capacity to analyze case DNA equals new requests for this analysis, backlogs will estimated 3,975 cases) and 18
continue to expand. percent of unsolved rape cases
(an estimated 27,595 cases)
Background contained forensic evidence not
submitted by law enforcement
Two kinds of DNA backlogs are found in crime laboratories. Casework backlogs agencies to a crime laboratory for
consist of forensic evidence collected from crime scenes, victims, and suspects in analysis.
criminal cases and submitted to a laboratory. Processing this type of evidence is
time consuming because it must be screened to determine if biological materials are 23 percent of all unsolved
present before DNA testing can even begin. Some of these samples can be property crimes (an estimated
degraded or fragmented, meaning their quality has been compromised, and can 5,126,719 cases) contained
contain DNA from multiple suspects and victims. unanalyzed forensic evidence.

By 2009, the federal government and all 50 states had passed bills requiring that NIJ has provided funds to assist in
DNA always be collected from suspects under arrest and offenders convicted of testing approximately 1.8 million
certain crimes. This evidence accounts for the other types of DNA backlogs at DNA samples taken from
laboratories. These samples are tested, reviewed, and uploaded into the national convicted offenders and arrestees
DNA database, CODIS (Combined DNA Index System), which is operated by the since 2005, leading to more
FBI. than18,000 hits in CODIS.

Evidence collected and stored in law enforcement evidence rooms awaiting As of August 2010, more than 8.7
laboratory analysis is not part of a crime laboratory backlog. NIJ considers this million offender profiles and
untested evidence not yet sent to laboratories to be a separate issue from backlogs 332,000 forensic profiles from
in crime laboratories. Untested evidence in law enforcement custody becomes part crime scene samples had been
of a crime laboratory backlog only when law enforcement agencies submit the added to CODIS, resulting in more
evidence to a crime laboratory. than 124,800 hits and assisting
more than 121,900 investigations.
What OJP Is Doing
99 percent of publicly funded
Congress has provided hundreds of millions of dollars to crime laboratories to help crime laboratories reported that
them reduce their backlog of DNA cases. Much of this help has come through the they would not have sufficient
National Institute of Justice (NIJ), which has several federal grant programs that funding if NIJ grants were no
have helped labs clear their backlogs. Between 2005 and 2008, for example, NIJ longer available.
programs helped state and local laboratories increase their capacity for analyzing
DNA evidence almost threefold, which has helped laboratories to either reduce Sources: Making Sense of DNA
current backlogs or slow their growth. Backlogs, 2010 — Myths vs.
Reality
NIJ offers assistance to state and local DNA labs through the DNA Backlog
Reduction Program, with the short-term goal of providing funds for labs to process Contact Us
more DNA cases and/or DNA database samples in-house, or to outsource them to
another DNA lab. This program's long-term goal is to increase laboratories' capacity Office of Justice Programs

to work more cases or database samples by allowing them to hire more personnel; 810 Seventh Street, NW

purchase and install robotic workstations; improve software to interpret DNA test Washington, DC 20531

results; and enhance the overall efficiency of DNA laboratory operations by novel Phone: 202???307???0703

and innovative means. Web site: www.ojp.gov

Resources
DNA Research and Development Portfolio
Making Sense of DNA Backlogs, 2010 — Myths vs. Reality
The 2007 Survey of Law Enforcement Forensic Evidence Processing
2007 DNA Evidence and Offender Analysis Measurement: DNA Backlogs,
Capacity and Funding
Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories, 2005
Forensic Science Training Program
Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) Web Page

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Assistance • Bureau of Justice Statistics • National Institute of Justice
Office for Victims of Crime • Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking

This file is provided for reference purposes only. It was current when produced, but is no longer maintained and may now
be outdated. Please send an email for questions or for further information.