Crime lab study adds immediate ways to improve forensic testing

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A more-than-100-page report has been turned over to the Memphis City Council detailing what it would take to build and operate a forensic crime lab in Memphis.

A consulting firm spoke to council members Tuesday. They said they visited various crime labs, including Jackson and Nashville, and spoke to local and state stakeholders and private lab administrators.

“Numbers we focused on were the numbers we received and average turnaround and days,” Project Director Dr. James McCutcheon said.

The report explained that the Memphis Police Department processes some evidence like latent prints. Last year, it reported more than 15,000 lifts that resulted in 650 identifications.

MPD also processes digital forensics and performs a significant portion of ballistics testing in-house, particularly the triaging of spent shell casings.

Forensic evidence, like analyzing DNA linked to homicides and sexual assaults, is all conducted at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation lab in Jackson, Tennessee, which is 85 miles away.

MPD carts the evidence there weekly.

“Ideally, it would be great to have it all in-house,” MPD Interim Chief C.J. Davis said to council members. “When we talk to detectives about the return on evidence, how cumbersome it is or if there’s an issue in processing cases, they all say, ‘Not really.'”

The idea of MPD establishing its own forensic crime lab has been ongoing since 1997.

It was brought up again when TBI closed its Memphis lab and opened a new one in Jackson in 2021.

It was brought up again in 2022 when a backlog at the state lab kept a rape kit on a shelf for nearly a year before it was tested. It allowed the attacker to walk free, abduct and kill Memphis mother Eliza Fletcher.

“I think it would be a game changer in terms of increasing our solve rate,” Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy stated in a February press conference.

While he and many others support the idea, the cost could get in the way.

“Total cost about $52-66 million dollars. That’s your range for the first year. That does not include search for personnel, training, utilities, and other unexpected expenditures,” McCutcheon said.

Then add another estimated $8 to 10 million every year to keep it open.

The report did offer less expensive ways to improve forensic needs, like utilizing RapidDNA technology when someone is booked.

“I think it’s something along the lines of $30,000-$50,000 now. You put it at a booking station,” McCutcheon said. “We would have someone come in, do a buccal swab to determine that they have a violent history or connected to other violent crimes to make a determination before bail. That would be helpful for us.”

The report also suggested hiring more personnel. It stated the MPD’s Crime Scene Unit is “currently operating at around half capacity” and is working in an “aging” facility that’s created “logistical challenges related to the facility’s structural limitations and environmental issues.”

It went on to state that personnel believe “increased communication” would “enhance operations,” and raised concern that “high-value evidence, as identified by the CSI Unit, is sometimes not submitted for testing.”

It didn’t go into further detail. We are trying to find out more.

The report also addressed various options on ways to operate and control the lab, concerns about crime labs nationwide facing staffing shortages due to inadequate compensation and other costs to consider.

We reached out to MPD just before 11 a.m. Tuesday, but have yet to hear back.

The Shelby County DA’s office said no one from the office has seen the study just yet. The DA anticipates getting it at some point Wednesday.