The district attorney for Cobb County, Flynn Broady, has spoken out about the need for funding to conduct forensic DNA testing, and while we agree with his assertions, we do not feel he goes far enough.
In fact, we feel that this is an issue that both Republicans and Democrats can agree on: crime lab funding needs to be at the top of the GBI’s priority list, and it hasn’t been for many, many years.
Augusta built a shiny new lab in 2003, and it has almost never been fully staffed. Almost all bodies needing a further autopsy must be sent to Atlanta, when the facilities to conduct full autopsies are right here in Augusta.
The Augusta facility has all the tools in place, but no humans to man them.
It is not just those who have been accused of murder and DNA might prove their innocence, but the operation of the state’s crime labs affects every family of someone who dies an unnatural death.
In many, if not most cases, something as simple as a toxicology screen can take three to six months, leaving grieving families in limbo. Women who have reported rape have to wait months for their kits to be examined while their attacker might remain on the streets.
Almost never do we advocate that the government actually spend more money to attempt to solve a problem, but this is a case where more funding would make all the difference in the world.
Richmond County Coroner Mark Bowen says the problem is that the state doesn’t want to pay the salaries of forensic pathologists and so, Georgia loses many good doctors to other states, where their 12 years of training and residencies pay off financially.
Any good pathology lab needs a small army of technicians, and those positions merit pay that is over that of custodial services.
Augusta University trains and graduates some of the finest medical professionals to be found anywhere, and the state needs to pony up the funding to keep those highly specialized professionals in the state where they studied.
