JB Van Hollen for Attorney General - JS Editorial: Eliminating the backlog

As DNA becomes more valuable for linking suspects to crimes, it's important that the state crime lab and law enforcement work together so the backlog does not reappear.

Technology is a wonderful thing - if you can use it. Now it appears Wisconsin is finally using one of law enforcement's best crime-fighting tools to the best of its ability. This, thanks to the elimination of the DNA backlog.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen deserves credit for tackling this issue head-on. When he took office at the start of 2007, nearly 1,800 criminal cases awaited DNA testing. Van Hollen determined that more analysts were needed. DNA processing at the state crime lab increased nearly 90% from 2003 to 2006, and the lab technicians could not keep up.

Through bipartisan support, Van Hollen was able to secure funding for 31 new lab technicians. After everyone was brought up to speed, the caseload started to come down and the backlog was eliminated.

The crime lab and law enforcement agencies need to continue to work together to improve efficiencies to keep caseloads manageable.

We hope that eliminating the backlog gives new life to cold cases. Law enforcement agencies also should rest assured that felons who are already in prison and have their DNA in the state database can be linked to previously unsolved crimes.

At many crime scenes, fingerprints and DNA evidence are left. Fingerprints can place a suspect at a scene of the crime, but DNA is even more identifying. DNA can be found in a person's blood, saliva, hair and skin. This DNA fingerprint not only can place a suspect at a crime scene but, in violent crimes, can even prove a person's involvement - or innocence.

DNA collection can be improved. The Assembly sent to Gov. Jim Doyle a measure that would require felons to submit DNA samples missing from a state database even if they have already served their sentences. Such a move could further close the gap in the state's records. Through a series of mishaps, some 12,000 DNA samples were not placed into the database.

Doyle should sign this bill.

Eliminating the backlog and expanding the database can mean putting dangerous people away. It gives law enforcement one more tool to link suspects to other crimes, some crimes that have been cold for years.

Let's use DNA technology to society's fullest advantage.

Click here to read the editorial on the Journal Sentinel website.