{"id":7157,"date":"2023-04-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=7157"},"modified":"2023-04-26T06:49:51","modified_gmt":"2023-04-26T06:49:51","slug":"army-lab-provides-expansive-capabilities-to-entire-dod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=7157","title":{"rendered":"Army lab provides expansive capabilities to entire DOD"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Sara Green, USACIL forensic biologist, performs a DNA swab demonstration during a laboratory visit March 28 in Forest Park, Georgia. The lab provides criminal investigators from every military branch with 24 forensic services ranging from DNA testing to latent print and trace evidence analysis.
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\n Sarah Davis, digital forensic examiner, performs a photo demonstration during a laboratory visit March 28 in Forest Park, Georgia. The lab provides criminal investigators from every military branch with 24 forensic services ranging from DNA testing to latent print and trace evidence analysis.
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WASHINGTON \u2014 Whether by standard mail truck or full-blown big rig, evidence from around the world continuously flows into the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory in Forest Park, Georgia.<\/p>\n

USACIL, the Department of Defense\u2019s only full-service forensic laboratory, provides criminal investigators from every military branch with 24 forensic services ranging from DNA testing to latent print and trace evidence analysis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe, in forensic science, play a critical role in the criminal investigation,\u201d said Debra Glidewell, USACIL assistant director. \u201cThe scientific analysis could be the piece of the puzzle that helps unravel the mystery of what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lab, which falls under the Department of the Army, Criminal Investigation Division, constantly strives to continuously improve their efficiency and effectiveness. Before packages arrive, a pre-submission screening takes place where criminal investigators contact the lab to determine what evidence they can test. This screening process prioritizes the evidence that is tested, which allows technicians in various disciplines to focus their efforts in key areas.<\/p>\n

When the packages finally arrive, technicians use a parallel process to intake evidence. That allows the techs to take DNA samples, trace evidence, drug samples and latent prints before sending that evidence to each branch to work on simultaneously.<\/p>\n

This process contrasts with the previous sequential system that passed evidence from one branch to the next. The improvement has cut turnaround times for evidence analysis from 180 days to less than 60 days in most cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cDepending on how long that turnaround time is, it can negatively impact a case,\u201d Glidewell explained. \u201cOur goal is to always be timely enough in our quality forensic results to be impactful in an open investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Jesse Brown, USACIL supervisory chemist, performs an explosive ordnance analysis demonstration during a laboratory visit March 28 in Forest Park, Georgia. The lab provides criminal investigators from every military branch with 24 forensic services ranging from DNA testing to latent print and trace evidence analysis.
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\n Ryan Coffey, USACIL firearms supervisor, poses for a photo during a laboratory visit March 28 in Forest Park, Georgia. The lab provides criminal investigators from every military branch with 24 forensic services ranging from DNA testing to latent print and trace evidence analysis.
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\n Christina Malone, USACIL digital forensic examiner, performs an audio\/video analysis demonstration during a laboratory visit March 28 in Forest Park, Georgia. The lab provides criminal investigators from every military branch with 24 forensic services ranging from DNA testing to latent print and trace evidence analysis.
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The lab also faces a challenge with informing criminal investigators of the robust capabilities they provide. They include fire-arms examination, digital evidence collection and analysis, drug chemistry, Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) databasing and indexing search. They\u2019re tackling this issue head on by hosting a laboratory training course several times a year.<\/p>\n

During the course, agents learn about each forensic discipline, their capabilities, what to look for at crime scenes, and how to collect and submit evidence to the lab. USACIL also conducts monthly forensic lab talks to get updated information to agents out in the field.<\/p>\n

When the scientists aren\u2019t in the lab, they’re usually traveling around the world providing expert testimony in court cases. The traveling and testifying under extreme pressure can take a toll on the scientists. That is why USACIL constantly looks at ways to care for its employees\u2019 mental, physical and emotional well-being.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaking care of people is not a sound bite, it\u2019s about making sure that these folks can be on the bench with their head in the game getting those quality forensic results out the door that impact our criminal investigations,\u201d Glidewell explained.<\/p>\n

As part of the Army Criminal Investigation Division\u2019s ongoing transformation from a military command into an independent civilian-led federal law enforcement organization, the lab added 14 scientists that helped make a direct impact on turnaround times in cases.<\/p>\n

As the demand for the lab\u2019s services increase, USACIL continually strives to provide world-class analysis that hopefully leads to justice through science.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are the voice of the evidence,\u201d Glidewell said. \u201cWhether they\u2019re a victim of a crime or a person of interest in a crime, all of our military members deserve quality forensic science to impact their investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Kim Westberry, USACIL chemist, performs a demonstration during a laboratory visit March 28 in Forest Park, Georgia. The lab provides criminal investigators from every military branch with 24 forensic services ranging from DNA testing to latent print and trace evidence analysis.
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\n Kristin Webb, USACIL forensic chemist, performs a paint transfer demonstration during a laboratory visit March 28 in Forest Park, Georgia. The lab provides criminal investigators from every military branch with 24 forensic services ranging from DNA testing to latent print and trace evidence analysis.
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\n Amelia Bussell-Martinez, USACIL forensic biologist, performs an alternate light source demonstration during a laboratory visit March 28 in Forest Park, Georgia. The lab provides criminal investigators from every military branch with 24 forensic services ranging from DNA testing to latent print and trace evidence analysis.
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Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n

First civilian Army CID director delivers update on agency transformation<\/a><\/p>\n

Army CID\u2019s DAC Plans for Year of Innovation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 Sara Green, USACIL forensic biologist, performs a DNA swab demonstration during a laboratory visit March 28 in Forest Park, Georgia. The lab provides criminal investigators from every military branch with 24 forensic services ranging from DNA testing to latent print and trace evidence analysis. (Photo Credit: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7159,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7157"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7168,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7157\/revisions\/7168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}