Congresswoman Matsui Announces More Than $680,000 in Federal DOJ Funding for District Attorney
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, August 26, 2011
CONTACT: MARA LEE
(202) 225-7173
Congresswoman Matsui Announces More Than $680,000 in Federal DOJ Funding for District Attorney
CA On Friday, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento) announced the U.S. Department of Justice will be awarding the Sacramento District Attorney's Office more than $680,000 in federal funding to analyze forensic evidence and DNA found at crime scenes.
Awarded through the U.S. Department of Justice's DNA Backlog Reduction Program, the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office was awarded $586,429 to increase the capacity of their existing crime laboratories to conduct DNA analysis, reduce DNA analysis backlogs, and help the criminal justice system use the full potential of DNA technology. This funding program is designed to help local law enforcement agencies process, record, screen, and analyze forensic DNA and increase the capacity of DNA database laboratories to process more DNA samples, thereby helping to reduce the number of DNA samples awaiting analysis.
Additionally, the Sacramento District Attorney's Office was awarded $100,625 through the DOJ's Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program to improve the quality and timeliness of forensic science and medical examiner services, and to eliminate backlogs in the analysis of forensic evidence.
Funding for forensic and DNA analysis is critical to helping our local law enforcement agencies investigate and prosecute some of our community's most heinous crimes, said Congresswoman Doris Matsui. Federal investments like these are critical in making sure our local agencies have the resources they need to analyze evidence, and apprehend and prosecute criminals across the nation.
DNA and forensic evidence collected from a crime scene can either link or eliminate a suspect to a crime, and can identify a victim through DNA from relatives. When DNA evidence from one crime scene is compared with evidence from another, those crime scenes can be linked to the same perpetrator.
Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully stated, The analysis conducted by our Crime Lab is crucial to the successful prosecution of some of our most violent and serious crimes, including murders, sex assaults and robberies. With years of budget cuts reducing both staff and equipment, the support of DOJ will ensure that the powerful tools of forensic evidence will continue to serve justice and help make our community safe.
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