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Marshall forensics teams up with police
A Marshall University Forensic Science Center DNA analyst processes evidence.
HUNTINGTON -- The Marshall University Forensic Science Center is providing DNA analysis on evidence from property crimes for the Huntington Police Department in a collaborative effort with the West Virginia State Police and Cabell and Wayne county prosecutors.
It's the first time the university-centered lab has partnered with local authorities, although it has worked with the State Police since the 1990s on cases throughout the state. Mary Thomasson, public information officer for the Forensic Science Center, said forensic scientists have provided analysis on more than 950 property crimes in West Virginia, Florida and South Carolina. But helping in its home community might prove to be more satisfying.
"This is a project we can be proud of," Thomasson said. "The information gained from DNA testing will demonstrate the property crimes testing on a smaller community, and it's great that we can do it right here at home."
The Forensic Science Center, part of Marshall's medical school, is providing the forensic DNA testing services for the project at no cost through federal funding secured by U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd. The lab technicians are mostly graduates of the two-year graduate program that emphasizes DNA identification, she said.
The agencies joined forces to investigate and prosecute property crimes within the jurisdiction of the Huntington Police Department. The partnership is under a one-year agreement called the Huntington Property Crime Initiative to determine the short- and long-term benefits of DNA testing in helping to identify suspects in a property crime and whether multiple property crimes can be linked to a single perpetrator.
Huntington Police Department field evidence technicians will evaluate each case and determine if the evidence qualifies for DNA analysis. If it does, they will collect evidence at the scene of a property crime and deliver it to the Forensic Science Center, which will perform DNA analysis.
Thomasson said the lab processes biological evidence that would contain DNA, such as blood, saliva, hair, semen and tissue. She said they've also tested bones, which has led to helping authorities identify human remains.
If a DNA profile is obtained from the evidence, the results will be forwarded by the Forensic Science Center to the West Virginia State Police for submission to the COmbined DNA Index System (CODIS) database that contains DNA profiles of convicted offenders and missing persons. If there is a match between the evidence sample's DNA profile and an individual's DNA profile in the CODIS database, the Huntington Police Department will be provided with that lead. The county prosecutors will determine the course of prosecution.
"The HPD is very excited to partner with Marshall for such an important program," Chief Skip Holbrook said. "Property crime is a significant problem, not only in Huntington, but the entire region."
The information gained from Huntington's Property Crime Initiative will be analyzed with a companion study involving two other law enforcement agencies to determine the success rates of using property crime DNA testing to identify perpetrators from three target populations. As part of the project, the Forensic Science Center also has been providing forensic DNA testing to the Miami-Dade Police Department, a large metropolitan area, and a consortium of law enforcement agencies in Charleston, S.C., a medium metropolitan area.
"Our work does help solve actual cases," Thomasson said.
Forensic Science Center DNA Laboratory Technical Leader Jason Chute said that typically across the country, DNA testing of violent crimes takes priority over DNA testing of property crimes in state and local labs because of limited resources.
"It is assumed that perpetrators who commit property crimes tend to be repeat offenders and eventually escalate into committing violent crimes," Chute said. "The goals of these projects are to provide investigative leads and assist in solving crimes."
This project was supported by a cooperative agreement awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Dept. of Justice.
