SLOPPY FORENSIC SCIENCE IN AUSTRALIA

On TV’s CSI forensic science is the fast-track to justice, but the reality for police forces around Australia is lengthy delays that are making the wheels of justice turn ever more slowly. The delays highlight the fact that police force are being denied the maximum benefit from rapid advances in forensic science, including the latest DNA technologies, because of a reluctance of state governments to spend the necessary money.

WA is the latest jurisdiction to reveal it’s struggling to cope, with a new Auditor General’s report finding that delays in obtaining forensic evidence were “ adversely affecting the justice system”. “One of the most significant issues being a large backlog in DNA analyses, resulting indelayed prosecutions and court adjournments,” the report says. It also found that a lack of “integrated decision-making” to allocate resources has resulted in bottlenecks and under-utilisation of forensic what resources are available. There had also been little assessment of whether the state’s forensic science facilities would be able to meet future demand. Forensic exhibits were not being centrally registered and tracked through the justice system and there were also problems with security.

The audit office recommended that WA police and the state’s forensic service PathWest “reduce the backlog in DNA analyses, including identifying the analyses that are no longer required, and agreeing priorities for requests for analysis”. The audit followed an admission by West Australian Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan that there was a backlog of 33,000 samples waiting for forensic testing and in some instances cases had been dealt with by the courts while DNA samples involved were still waiting to be tested.

Last month NSW Police announced they would send DNA collected from crime scenes to a private laboratory for analysis to help clear a large backlog of 9000 cases. Demand for DNA analysis in NSW jumped from 16,500 samples in 2001 to more than 29,700 this year.

In April the Queensland Health Service said its troubled forensic service was taking six months to provide analysis of samples taken from clandestine drug laboratories to use in court cases. That might sound bad, but the delay had fallen to six months from a high of 2 1/2 years in 2005. There was also a mounting backlog of DNA testing for criminal cases, which prompted the Queensland Government to announce it was putting an extra $6 million to improve the system.

In Victoria a magistrate late last year criticised delays of up to two years in court cases because police were having to wait 12 months for drug test results. Two weeks ago the first stage of a $6.44 million upgrade of the Victoria Police forensic laboratory was opened in an attempt to deal with backlogs.

Report here



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