Anyone who has watched a crime show knows that in TV-land, DNA is collected and processed within a neat and tidy one-hour show.
In the real world, where there are backlogs at most state labs as more and more cases come in, the process isn’t nearly as fast.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokesperson Samantha Andrews said the average turnaround for the state labs is 79 days. Some cases can take longer.
The Walton County Sheriff’s Office has decided to look to use a private lab accepted by FDLE as a supplement to the state lab.
“They do the best they can,” Sheriff’s Capt. AJ Smith said of the state lab. “What we’re looking to do is just have another avenue.”
The FDLE has six state-operated labs, with the nearest in Pensacola. Andrews said the FDLE also has approved private labs where it out-sources DNA testing. Those labs can be used to supplement the state labs for a fee.
Because of the high demand, state labs do not accept touch DNA in non-violent crime cases such as burglaries. In a burglary, touch DNA would include traces on doorknobs, light switches or other surfaces that the homeowners might touch regularly, but that might also have DNA from the burglar.
While the traces might lead to an arrest, the pressure on the state labs makes that option almost impossible.
Bay, Walton counties: Officials with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office said they have not broached the subject of privatizing their DNA processing operations.
“We have good service with FDLE,” said Maj. Tommy Ford. “If we have a case with which we are particularly concerned, they are usually good about fast-tracking it for us.”
Walton County will use DNA Labs International out of Deerfield Beach to process select cases such as burglaries in which no one was home or other non-violent crimes.
“We’re looking at ways to solve crimes quicker,” said Smith, who noted that when someone is a victim, even if they weren’t injured, there’s still some sense of trauma.
He said the Sheriff’s Office is trying to make sure they get people who commit crimes off the streets before multiple people are victimized.
“The turnaround was getting longer and longer,” at the state lab, he said.
Walton has used DNA in multiple burglaries and other property crimes in the past year, including two notable cases.
On Jan. 24, 2015, blood was found at a burglary scene in Miramar Beach. It was matched to a 20-year-old man who was later arrested for two counts of burglary and two counts of criminal mischief.
After Steven Ryan Ritchie, 23, was arrested on Aug. 27, 2013, on charges of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, his DNA linked him to several burglaries in Santa Rosa Beach. He was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison last September.
“That just shows what an important tool it is for law enforcement,” Smith said.
The cost to use the outside lab will be between $135 and $395 per submission. The fee will decrease as the number of submissions increase.
“We’re going to be very selective about it and just use it when it’s critical,” Smith said. “A lot of the cases we go out on, (deputies) take swabs. They may not always submit them.”
Okaloosa County: Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Maj. Arnold Brown said that while the FDLE is backing off, his agency is still considering the options.
“They’re placing a burden back on local law enforcement with no funding,” Brown said. “As far as reaching out to a private lab, we’ve not done that yet.”
“We have (considered the option) because they’re kind of forcing us to do that,” he added.
He noted that sexual assault and homicide cases take priority at the state lab.
Generally, if the Sheriff’s Office sends DNA over, it could take months to get results.
Smith said that in cases of property damage, catching someone as quickly as possible is still important.
He gave the example of a man who breaks windows in several neighborhoods over weeks. He might have left DNA at the first scene, but because it’s a case of property damage, the state lab can no longer accept it.
No one was hurt, but to the dozens of people who have to replace windows, it’s still an important case.
Smith said the Sheriff‘s Office has made changes because of the state backlogs. It now has someone in-house who is certified to handle digital evidence, for example.
“They quit taking gunshot residue kits. That was a couple years ago,” Brown said.
He said in a perfect world, all law enforcement agencies would do everything in-house.
However, Smith estimated that just starting a lab would cost at least $250,000. That cost would not include certification or hiring of employees to analyze evidence.
“I wish it were like TV. I wish we had our own lab in-house,” he said. “It causes challenges for us, but we figure out a way to overcome it.”
News Herald writer Zack McDonald contributed to this report.