Backlog swells at Washington state crime lab

A dearth of trained firearms-ballistics examiners at the State Patrol Crime Laboratory Division has clogged the justice system and created long laboratory backlogs.

On average, it takes state experts more than six months to complete ballistics tests in cases involving firearms. Detectives often wait up to a year for results.

With a soaring state budget shortfall, Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed cutting crime-lab jobs.

The state crime lab is actually seven labs throughout the state, with about 150 employees. Acting director Larry Hebert said the lab's $17 million budget is bare-bones and that any cuts could reduce the services it provides.

The science of fighting crime isn't like TV shows where complex lab work takes minutes. A diligent ballistics examiner, for example, may process about eight cases a month, Hebert said.

Processing evidence within a month of when it is collected by police is the lab's acceptable standard, Hebert said. But of the six different kinds of analysis conducted by the state lab, only two areas meet the one-month deadline.

Testing for DNA on average takes two months. Fingerprint exams take about 47 days.

The backlogs haven't kept the lab from meeting trial deadlines or helping to find dangerous suspects. Key evidence in the Oct. 31 shooting of Seattle police Officer Timothy Brenton was processed in days.