Forensic laboratories have become very important in the fight against crime. Proving a crime in a court of law or making an investigation over the occurrence of crime could be not only expensive but also time-consuming. In addition, the investigators may fail to obtain the truth behind a crime or the court may end up convicting an innocent person due to misleading investigations. Technology in form of forensic laboratories has helped to overcome or reduce these challenges. Accreditation and expanding DNA laboratories are both important for the FBI. With constrain in finance, the FBI has to decide on which of both should be given a priority. To my opinion, expanding the DNA laboratories should be given a priority for it would bring more benefits.
DNA analysis is a very important tool in forensic investigations. The discovery of DNA is among the most important discoveries made in the last century. The use of DNA in medical science has resulted in very important result diagnosis and treatment of diseases. The forensic study has also benefited a lot from DNA analysis (Inman & Rudin, 2002, p. 23). The ability of the DNA analysis to offer results that cannot be doubted has made it very effective in the forensic investigation (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2010, para. 2). In addition, acceptance of DNA analysis results as evidence in the Court of law has entrenched DNA analysis in forensic investigations. As this technology is relatively new, the capacity of forensic laboratories to offer DNA analysis for all investigations that require it, is challenges. Although accreditation will increase the credibility of FBI forensic laboratories, increasing the capacity for DNA analysis is more urgent.
Investigations over some crimes without the use of DNA analysis are challenging. Crimes such as murder and rape have very severe effects on the community. An investigation by use of conventional ways without the use of DNA analysis is not easy (Inman & Rudin, 2002, p. 43). The conventional way of investigation may take longer, leading to loss of evidence, or lead to the wrong conclusion. Although DNA analysis is considered expensive, it is cheaper as compared to the cost of crime and time used in a conventional investigation. Expanding the DNA analysis in FBI forensic laboratories will allow more people to access the services of DNA analysis for their cases.
Increasing the capacity of DNA laboratories is very important for public crime Laboratories. For the FBI to be able to meet the increased demand for DNA analysis, it has to expand its DNA laboratory. The National Institute of Justice has been advocating for increased use of science and technology in ensuring justice in the community. In addition to this many law enforces have realized the importance of collecting forensic evidence from the crime scene. This has resulted in increased forensic samples for DNA analysis (Dale, Greenspan & Orokos 2006, p. 22). Apart from this, State passed a statute that has expanded samples collected for DNA analysis. These have increased the number of samples for DNA analysis in FBI forensic laboratories. In most cases, DNA analysts are left with no option to only analyze the most urgent samples leaving many samples waiting for DNA analysis (Dale, Greenspan & Orokos 2006, p.17). Although accreditation is important in the future, it would only be fair to use the funds to meet the high demand for DNA analysis.
DNA analysis has become very important in forensic investigations. Evidence from forensic DNA analysis is more convincing; mitochondrial DNA can even be used to investigate a crime that occurred a long time ago. The high demand for forensic DNA analysis has challenged capacity of FBI’s forensic laboratory. Although accreditation is important, expanding DNA laboratory should be prioritized.
Reference
Dale, W., Greenspan, O. & Orokos, D. (2006). DNA Forensics: Expanding Uses and Information Sharing. Web.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2010). DNA-Nuclear. Web.
Inman, K. & Rudin, N. (2002). An introduction to forensic analysis. New York. CRC Press.