PUBLICATION: National Post
DATE:
2003.10.06
EDITION:
National
SECTION:
News
PAGE:
A1 / Front
BYLINE:
Brian Hutchinson
SOURCE:
National Post
ILLUSTRATION:
Black & White Photo:
(Wayne) Easter
NOTE:
bhutchinson@nationalpost.com
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RCMP
lab swamped, cases in peril: Insiders blame cuts: 'A serial rapist or murderer
could be loose,' says expert who quit in disgust
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A
massive backlog of DNA casework has overwhelmed the RCMP's forensic laboratory
system and jeopardized hundreds of the country's most serious criminal
investigations.
Internal
RCMP statistics obtained by the National Post show that in the first eight
months of this year, only 26% of forensic DNA inquiries marked
"urgent" have met the RCMP's own mandated completion deadline of 15
days. "Urgent" cases include suspected serial homicides, terrorism and
violent sexual assaults.
Only
12% of the RCMP's "routine" DNA cases, from such crimes as bank
robberies, have met their 30-day deadline.
In
all, some 2,300 DNA samples from as many as 500 criminal cases across the
country are waiting to be analyzed.
Most
municipal police forces in Canada rely on the RCMP's DNA services. Sources say
ongoing cuts to the force's six forensic labs mean the backlog will keep
growing.
According
to several RCMP sources, most remaining DNA services performed in Edmonton,
Regina and Halifax are to be phased out and moved to Ottawa, the latest move in
what is viewed as a botched attempt to control costs and improve efficiency.
"It
does not seem reasonable that the unsuspecting public should wait 50 to 100 days
for the results of a DNA analysis," said Dave Hepworth, until last week a
senior member of the RCMP's forensic laboratory in Regina. "A serial rapist
or murderer could be on the loose during that time period, simply because we
have an under-resourced forensic laboratory system."
A
former RCMP staff sergeant with more than 30 years forensic lab experience, Mr.
Hepworth retired last week from civilian service with the Mounties, rather than
continue working in what he describes as an ill-managed, ultimately doomed
laboratory system.
Ongoing
cuts to the RCMP's DNA services have prompted some of the country's best
criminologists and DNA experts to leave for the United States.
The
latest round of cuts, which have yet to be confirmed by the RCMP, will leave the
Mounties with just two fully functioning DNA laboratories, one in Ottawa, the
other in Vancouver. The latter is already swamped with thousands of DNA samples
collected in the course of investigating alleged serial killer William Pickton;
members of the Vancouver Police Service told The Vancouver Sun this weekend the
unprecedented DNA backlog has led to delays in the arrest of suspected sexual
predators in that city.
In
Winnipeg, meanwhile, local police are still waiting for the RCMP to provide
results of DNA samples collected from a pair of severed limbs discovered
floating in the Red River in June.
The
RCMP has not answered questions from the National Post about the backlog, nor
has it discussed future service cuts in its laboratories. Solicitor-General
Wayne Easter, the federal Cabinet minister responsible for the RCMP, has also
been silent on the issue.
DNA
backlogs are nothing new. Since advanced genetic matching technology was
introduced to police work two decades ago, police everywhere have struggled to
keep up with demands for analysis.
Three
years ago, Canada's auditor-general chastised the RCMP for its failure to
produce DNA analysis results expeditiously.
"A
homicide case on which the laboratory took almost six months to submit its
report involved $1.3-million in investigation costs, because police had to
resort to expensive investigation techniques," the report said. "It is
estimated that if the laboratory had submitted its report within 20 days, the
investigation would have cost $1-million less."
Rather
than attack the backlog with additional resources, the RCMP embarked upon a plan
of centralization, mapped out by an outside consulting firm, Pricewaterhouse
Coopers.
According
to a former RCMP forensic lab manager, a large portion of Regina's
state-of-the-art laboratory, built in 1995 at a cost of $12-million, was
converted to office space for the RCMP's regional deputy commissioner. As many
as 110 families had to relocate to Ottawa, at a projected cost of $8-million,
the source said.
No
cost-benefit analysis was ever performed; no risk assessment was conducted.
"Guiding principles have been ignored or rejected," the former lab
manager said. "Experienced scientists will continue to leave, case response
times will increase, suspects will remain at large longer, providing increased
opportunity for further crime."
Earlier
this year, regional analytical services were closed. As a result, DNA samples
from across Canada, save for British Columbia, are forwarded to Ottawa.
Additional service cuts, expected to take effect in April, would eventually
require all cases accepted for laboratory examination in Canada to undergo an
initial "search" in Ottawa. Material that might contain fragments of
DNA -- including clothing, car seats, and so on -- would be shipped to the
capital, rather than undergo examination at a regional evidence recovery unit,
in either Edmonton, Regina, or Halifax.
In August, Alliance MP Kevin Sorenson sent Mr. Easter a letter, asking him to comment on the backlog, and to justify cuts to the DNA laboratories, when $1-billion has been spent on the national firearms registry. As of yesterday, Mr. Easter had yet to respond.