INDIANA – September 15 through the 21st is National Forensic Science Week.
The week brings recognition to the role that proper forensic science plays in the investigation of crimes throughout the nation, from exonerating the innocent to identifying the guilty.
Below are some statistics about forensic investigations here in Indiana from the Indiana State Police.
Below are some interesting stats from the past year (2018):
- There were 23,876 new cases submitted for analysis at the four Indiana State Police laboratories
- Crime Scene Investigators responded to 1,366 different crime scenes throughout the state
- Polygraph Examiners conducted 712 polygraph tests
- The number of Indiana offender samples being searched in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) was more than 318,000 of which 5,822 cases in Indiana were linked to a potential suspect (offender) by a CODIS DNA match
- A notable case aided by DNA analysis was that of an eight year old girl who was abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered back in 1988. Since that time, numerous agencies contributed to the investigation, and the Indiana State Police Laboratory’s Biology Section had completed more than 100 examination requests, that included the testing of crime scene evidence and several hundred DNA standards from persons of interest. In July 2018, all this eventually led to the identification, arrest, and prosecution of the person responsible for this horrific crime. The perpetrator pled guilty and received an 80 year prison sentence. While this case was aided by forensic genealogy from a private laboratory, the DNA matches were made by the ISP laboratory
There are four Indiana State Police laboratory facilities statewide.
For more information about National Forensic Week, visit: http://www.forensicscienceweek.org/
For information about the Indiana State Police Laboratory Division and the services they provide, visit: http://www.in.gov/isp/labs/
