$1 million OKd to cut DNA analysis backlog

Responding to public pressure, the City Council approved funding Wednesday to help reduce the Police Department’s backlog of unexamined DNA evidence from rapes and other violent crimes.

The unanimous vote will make nearly $1 million available to allow the LAPD to hire 16 new DNA analysts and support staff and to help pay private laboratories hired to work on backlogged cases. If sufficient funds are allotted in coming years to continue the pace of hiring and outsourcing, the LAPD’s DNA backlog will be eliminated in about 2 1/2 years, said Councilman Jack Weiss, who spearheaded the funding plan. On Tuesday, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief William J. Bratton vowed to make the issue a budget priority.

The political momentum comes after several months of growing public scrutiny of how the LAPD has handled efforts to clear the roughly 7,000 cases awaiting DNA analysis. Most recently, City Controller Laura Chick released the results of an audit that found that 200 potential sex crime cases had not been prosecuted because the LAPD failed to meet legal deadlines to test DNA evidence.

-- Joel Rubin