Open Access Opinion

Crime Labs Should be Privatized

Pamela Newell*

Department of Criminal Justice, University of North Georgia, Georgia

Corresponding Author

Received Date: July 01, 2019;  Published Date: July 09, 2019

Abstract

Crime labs take evidence from police investigation and test them for DNA evidence to help include or exclude a suspect from the defendant pool. Sometimes, crime labs look for fingerprints, although many law enforcement agencies have employees who can do that in the office. Crime lab technicians look for biological matter such as analyzes evidence such as blood, semen, saliva, plant matter, and insects. Usually, law enforcement collects evidence from a crime scene and witnesses and sends it to a crime lab. The collection and storage of the evidence has been problematic for state-run crime labs, which are frequently accessible to law enforcement and the prosecution. However, to minimize possible biases, make crime labs more efficient, and clear backlogs, crime labs should be independent of law enforcement agencies and privatized.

Citation
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