Law Officials Decry DNA Lab Backlog

Leading Los Angeles law enforcement officials on Thursday called on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature to take swift action to alleviate a massive backlog at the state’s DNA crime lab.

Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton, L.A. County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley and Sheriff Lee Baca decried staffing shortages at the state lab, which have resulted in a backlog of more than 287,000 unprocessed DNA samples taken from criminals in an effort to tie them to unsolved crimes.

Bratton used a graphic example to describe the consequences of the backlog. Bratton said his cold-case squad has identified “five serial killers” on the loose in Los Angeles who are responsible for at least 20 murders, based on DNA evidence linking various crime scenes.

However, the authorities have not been able to link the crime scenes to individuals.

“Our serial murderers may be” found in the nearly 300,000 DNA samples that remain unprocessed at the state lab in Richmond, “but we don’t know,” Bratton said.

In addition, Bratton said the LAPD is unable to bring to trial 46 of every 100 murderers and 80 of every 100 rapists in the city because critical DNA evidence has not been tested. He said that if the state’s new DNA program were able to fulfill its potential, it could help solve at least some of those crimes because “there is DNA in most of those cases.”

“There are 1,000 murders and 2,600 rapes in Los Angeles County every year,” and DNA evidence can be brought to bear in many of those cases, Baca said. “There is a deep need to solve this problem.”

The Times reported Thursday that the backlog stemmed from staffing shortages at the state lab, which is supposed to test the DNA samples and upload them into the database under the mandate of Proposition 69, a measure California voters passed resoundingly in 2004 to vastly expand the state’s database of genetic profiles.

The measure requires officials to collect and test DNA from convicted felons, certain misdemeanor offenders and those arrested for rape or murder and check them against a national database -- making it a more effective tool for unraveling crime and exonerating innocent people.

The lab is having difficulty hiring and retaining scientists because its pay scale is considerably lower than that of local crime labs or private industry.

Although the program was supposed to pay for itself, it has not been fully funded -- a point emphasized by Newport Beach homebuilder Bruce Harrington, who financed the ballot measure.

Harrington joined the law enforcement officials at a news conference at Cal State L.A., where more than 500 police officers, lawyers, nurses and rape counselors gathered on DNA Awareness Day.

Under the law, California counties were to turn over $1 of every $10 in misdemeanor fines to a “penalty pot,” amassing an estimated $25 million a year for the project. In fact, the collections came to just $7.5 million in the first year.

Harrington said he has urged the governor’s staff to form a task force to ease the backlog.

Schwarzenegger spokesman Bill Maile said, “The governor is a strong supporter of Prop. 69 and the use of DNA to solve crimes. We are extremely concerned about this situation and are starting to look at what executive actions can be taken to eliminate this problem as quickly as possible.”

This summer, the starting salary for criminalists at the state lab was increased from $2,800 a month to $3,100, and that rate is scheduled to be raised again next year.

That still would leave salaries lower than the pay scales at virtually all of the local crime labs in California, according to officials of the union that represents the lab workers.

Harrington praised California Chief Justice Ronald George for forming a task force to overhaul the way localities collect court fines.

George said that in the first year, his initiative generated a 27% increase in collections statewide but that he was not certain how much of that money went to the state DNA lab.

Bratton and Baca said their departments’ capacity to process forensic evidence should increase when a new crime lab opens at Cal State L.A. next year.

Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss said that in response to the Times article, he was launching an inquiry into the backlog.

Weiss also said that resolving the problem is critical because DNA is such a powerful tool in cracking and preventing crimes.

“The most important thing you can do to fight violent crime in California is to empower people wearing white lab coats,” the councilman said.

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henry.weinstein@latimes.com