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News & Resources You can find current news and other information about forensic science on our blog. If you would like to receive a weekly set of links to news stories about forensic science, please sign up to receive the CLP News. To subscribe, just add CLPNews to your Yahoo Groups, or send a blank e-mail message to CLPNews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT STUDIES ON FORENSIC SCIENCE The U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics has issued several reports that reflect the problems being faced by forensic science providers in the U.S. We are told that a new report on crime lab backlogs is in progress. We hope it will be released soon, because while current news reports from across the country reflect increasing backlogs in many areas of forensic science, the most recent DJS study of backlogs in publicly funded crime labs is based on a study for the year ending in 2002 — that data is now almost five years old. That 2002 study indicated a national backlog of over 500,000 cases in U.S. publicly funded crime labs. All knowledgeable sources agree this backlog has grown tremendously in the past few years. Each case may require a number of tests to be completed. To read the full report as a PDF file, please click here. Another report, "50 Largest Crime Labs, 2002," is also somewhat dated now, but is the most recent report on the largest labs. The study does show the backlog of requests for examination of evidence in these labs, and the need for better funding. In June, 2007 the BJS released an important study on medical examiner and coroners' offices in the U.S.. This study is based on a survey conducted for the year ending in 2004. Among its findings: "Approximately 40 percent of all deaths in the United States were referred to medical examiners' and coroners' offices during 2004. About half (487,000) merited further investigation, the survey noted. "As of 2004, there were almost 13,500 unidentified human remains on record in medical examiner and coroners' offices across the country, but record-keeping practices varied. Aside from the remains on record, an estimated 4,400 unidentified human bodies are received in medical examiners' and coroners' offices in an average year. Of those an average of about 1,000 remain unidentified after one year, and about 600 undergo final disposition, such as burial, cremation or other means. Only half of medical examiners and coroners' offices in 2004 had policies for retaining records on unidentified human remains...." (The Crime Lab Project reminds you that the person deciding whether or not a death will be referred for medical investigation may have little or no formal training in forensic science. In many states, a coroner is elected or appointed politically, and requirements for training may be low or non-existent.) To read the full report, click here. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES A project of the National Academy of Sciences, "Identifying the Needs of the Forensic Sciences Community," began in September, 2006. You can learn more about this project here. Last updated: August 15, 2007