Idaho State Police Forensic Services recognized as one of the top-performing forensic laboratories in the world.

(Meridian) The Idaho State Police Forensic Services Laboratory is one of 14 labs worldwide to receive a FORESIGHT Maximus Award, awarded earlier this week. The designation from the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD), uses standard business metrics to measure the efficiency level demonstrated by the laboratories. To be considered for the award, laboratories must demonstrate a minimum of 90% or better peak efficiency.

Idaho State Police Colonel Kedrick Wills said of the award, “The fact ISP received the Maximus Award confirms what I already knew to be true, and that is this. We are fortunate to have some of the most dedicated forensic professionals working in ISP forensic science labs across our state. These scientists and forensic specialists understand the importance of the work they do and how it impacts people across Idaho. It is inspiring to see their commitment to the crime victims and the criminal justice system.”

The Idaho State Police has three forensic labs, located in Coeur d’ Alene, Pocatello, and Meridian. Each of the labs conduct testing on a variety of evidence, including controlled substances, latent prints, toxicology samples, firearms, and DNA. Forensic scientists working in ISP labs are highly educated and well trained, including being proficiency tested in their specialty areas of forensic analysis. Idaho State Police was the first laboratory system in the country to require their scientists to be certified to work in their forensic discipline.

In 2019 the Idaho State Police Forensic Services Laboratories:

Reported analysis on over 23,318 items of evidence.

Completed 14,675 forensic cases for the state of Idaho,

Improved turnaround time in every discipline, including less than 15 days in the chemistry discipline.

Implemented several million dollars in new toxicology instrumentation.

The Idaho felony offender DNA database aided 70 homicide, robbery, sexual assault, and burglary investigations for 15 agencies in 12 states.

ISP Director of Forensic Services, Matthew Gamette, explained the importance of the award and efficiency in Idaho labs. “This award is the result of over ten years of hard work. We understand the importance of being accountable for the best scientific practices, transparency to our stakeholders, and timely analysis to assist the criminal justice system. We look at every discipline and process performed in our labs to ensure that we analyze evidence to the most rigorous testing, interpretation, and conclusion standards and also that we are conducting analysis as efficiently as possible.”

ISP Police Services Commander, Major Charlie Spencer, stated, “ISP Forensic Services has been a leader to ensure that Project Foresight participating forensic labs worked together to identify new ways to make use of business tools in the operation of forensic science laboratories. Being recognized by Project Foresight as a Maximus Award winner is an outstanding accomplishment by the laboratory staff, laboratory management, and ISP financial management. I am proud of what we have accomplished and congratulate our entire team for this great achievement. We are very pleased to bring this award to the citizens and the state of Idaho.”

Around 90% of the analysis done in the Idaho State Police Forensic Services labs is performed for city and county law enforcement agencies across Idaho. Only a small percentage of evidence tested in ISPFS labs is done in conjunction with ISP cases. ISPFS only works on criminal cases in support of the Idaho criminal justice system.

More information about the ISP Forensic Labs and the Foresight Maximus Award is available on our website. https://isp.idaho.gov/forensics

————-

Posted in Forensic Services