HAMILTON
TWP. – Welcoming more than 300 invited
guests and law enforcement dignitaries,
Gov. James E. McGreevey and Attorney General
Peter C. Harvey unveiled the Department
of Law and Public Safety Forensic Science
Center, officially opening one of the
preeminent crime fighting laboratories
in the United States.
“This
is a proud day for the all of law enforcement
and crime victims. New Jersey is now in
the vanguard of fusing science and technology
with crime fighting, and this building
is the showcase of future crime scene
laboratories,” said Gov. McGreevey.
Joining Gov. McGreevey and Attorney General
Peter C. Harvey at the ribbon-cutting
ceremony were, Superintendent of State
Police Col. Rick Fuentes, FBI Special-Agent-In-Charge
Joseph Billy, Jr., Division of Criminal
Justice Director Vaughn McKoy, Dr. Thomas
Brettell, Director of the Science Center
and Dr. Robin Cotton, representative of
the American Society of Crime Laboratory
Directors.
Attorney General Harvey said the opening
of the new state-of-the-art forensic facility
is a testament to the critical role that
science and technology commands in modern
law enforcement.
“This
laboratory will give New Jersey state-of-the
art DNA and computer forensic capabilities
to solve open cases and bring to justice
criminals who hurt innocent citizens.
The scientists provide law enforcement
with a level of crime fighting expertise
that was unseen less than a decade ago,”
said the Attorney General.
“The
men and women who staff this new science
center should be extremely proud of the
mark they are making in law enforcement.
Forensic scientists are the new cop.
They have elevated law enforcement’s
ability to quickly and with academic precision
identify and analyze crime scene evidence.
They have moved far beyond the perception
of being a support service, and are now
viewed as part of an investigative team,”
Col. Fuentes said.
Division of Criminal Justice Director
Vaughn McKoy said that the division has
been a partner in the development in the
forensic laboratory and that the partnership
enhances law enforcement’s effectiveness.
“We are better able to coordinate
and implement critical crime fighting
procedures such as DNA collection and
the development of statewide DNA database
that will rival fingerprint collection
as the forensic science of the future.”
The laboratory will house two significant
components: (1) DNA and other criminalistics
forensics lab and (2) the Regional Computer
Forensics Laboratory (RCFL). In February
the FBI selected New Jersey to be the
site of a regional forensic computer crime
analysis center, the first such center
in the Northeast United States.
The Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory
is the first such laboratory dedicated
solely to analyzing computer evidence
on a statewide basis.
Dr. Thomas A. Brettell, director of the
Forensic Science Center, said that approximately
90 scientists are now employed at the
center, with background in such diverse
fields as molecular biology, entomology,
anthropology and chemistry. Forensic scientists
ensure the quality and integrity of the
evidence, allowing law enforcement to
solve crimes in a speedier, more efficient,
manner.
Brettell praised his staff for recently
achieving national recognition by the
American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory
Accreditation Board. The Forensic Science
Center was recognized by the ASCLD for
having all of its laboratories receive
accreditation.
The latest in the forensic scientist’s
arsenal – and what sets the New
Jersey State Police apart – is the
Mitochondrial DNA Unit. New Jersey State
Police was one of four law enforcement
agencies in the United States to be selected
by the FBI to have such a unique unit.
As a result, the State Police are part
of a cooperative partnership with the
FBI in operating the new DNA laboratory.
New Jersey State Police will not only
handle all New Jersey state mitochondrial
cases, but will analyze cases from other
states as well. The other three states
that have the Mitochondrial DNA Unit are
Arizona, Minnesota and Connecticut.
The Mitochondrial DNA Unit goes a step
beyond the nuclear DNA profile, which
analyzes physical evidence containing
biological stains such as blood, semen
or saliva. Forensic scientists are able
to examine evidence when the nuclear DNA
profile is absent. This new technology
allows forensics scientists to analyze
difficult samples such as bones, teeth,
hair shafts, decomposed bodies, and charred
remains, even though customary sources
of a DNA profile such as skin tissues
and fluids are absent from the evidence.
With the addition of the new science center,
State Police will now handle state DNA
investigations, as well as all other evidentiary
analysis. While the Forensic Science Center
is the centerpiece of the State Police
evidentiary analysis system, three other
satellite laboratories will share the
work load. The South laboratory, located
in Hammonton, Atlantic County, the North
Laboratory, located in Little Falls, Passaic
County and the East Laboratory, located
in Seagirt, Monmouth County, will handle
analysis of all drugs, toxicology and
arson cases.
Last year, the Forensic Science Laboratory
Bureau analyzed more than 33,000 pieces
of evidence. The DNA laboratory received
1,111 cases in 2003, a 30 percent increase
over 2002. And a new DNA data base law
was enacted last year, which mandated
that all Convicted felony offenders provide
a DNA sample. More than 12,000 DNA profiles
of offenders have been uploaded into the
National DNA Indexing System.
Gone are the days when forensic science
enabled only typecasting of blood samples
such as A,B, and O negative that would
only eliminate fifty percent of the population,
or hand searching thousands fingerprint
cards, which would take days to locate
a suspect. Now, DNA analysis can provide
an identification that virtually certain.
The AFIS (Automated Finger Print Identification
System) retrieves a suspect’s fingerprints
in a matter of minutes from hundreds of
thousands of fingerprint cards.
In addition to the new Mitochondrial DNA
Unit, the Forensic Science Center will
house the entire array of scientific units
including drug; toxicology – blood
and urine – criminalistics; breath
and alcohol test program; forensic photography;
ballistics, DNA unit; anthropology unit;
the CODIS Database Unit and LIMS (Laboratory
Information Management System), a system
used to collect, record and store information,
and maintain document control, quality
control and compliance process mandated
by forensic laboratory accrediting bodies.
