Performance Improvement

Idaho State Police Forensic Services (ISPFS) provides forensic services for approximately 1.6 million people in the state of Idaho. The Idaho State Police Forensic Services provides services to 88 police agencies, 44 sheriff agencies, and all federal and state law enforcement agencies in the state of Idaho. ISPFS currently has 236 latent print, 114 toxicology, and 98 biology cases that are over the strategic turnaround time for the laboratory. ISPFS has committed to the Idaho Supreme Court to work all forensic cases in less than a 30 day turnaround time. The laboratory system will use a combination of lean six sigma projects, private certified contractor analysts, equipment, and training to address this issue. In addition, the laboratory will investigate the implementation of statistical modeling in the latent print discipline. The scope of this project is to improve the quality and timeliness of forensic services in Idaho and to reduce the number of backlogged cases in the Idaho State Police Forensic Services (ISPFS) laboratories. The overall objectives of this grant are to 1) implement lean six sigma in every laboratory discipline, 2) provide latent print analysts with software and training in statistical modeling, 3) purchase a needed latent print alternate light source, 4) contract with certified private examiners to reduce the latent print casework backlog, and 5)educate ISPFS and other public laboratory latent print examiners in two different latent print courses. The project objective will be accomplished by sending all ISPFS managers to the Louisiana State Police (LSP) lab to learn how to best implement lean six sigma at ISPFS in every laboratory discipline. Managers are receiving training in lean six sigma and will benefit from the vast experience with lean six sigma at LSP. ISPFS will send analysts to obtain training and software from the USACIL laboratory to implement statistical modeling in casework. ISPFS wi ll also bring in contract Certified Latent Print Examiners (CLPE) to work impression evidence cases for ISPFS while the laboratory continues to train new examiners to meet capacity needs. ISPFS will provide two independent latent print courses to our examiners and invite examiners from other local and county labs without fiscal ability to provide outside training resources for their examiners. ISPFS will also purchase a latent print alternate light I source needed for two examiners to process latent print cases simultaneously. nca/ncf