Grand Jury Finds Better Crime Lab Is Needed
The sheriff’s crime lab is too small, understaffed and in need of more funding, the Ventura County Grand Jury has found.
The grand jury recommended that the department make every effort to hire a new assistant forensics manager, remodel the existing lab, and find a way to pay for and begin building a new lab before 2006.
The crime lab has a backlog of 385 drug cases, and its building is outdated.
Last year, state voters defeated Proposition 15, which would have paid for crime labs.
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