August 21, 2003

LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today announced that the state of Michigan will participate in a National Institute of Justice (NIJ) pilot program to help eliminate DNA caseload backlogs for convicted felon sample testing. Michigan stands to gain $3 to $4 million in forensic science services from participating in this program.

"This funding from the NIJ is outstanding news for our crime laboratories and for the state of Michigan," Granholm said. "Not only will this assist us in clearing a projected 10-year backlog, it will add additional offender samples to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS)."

Governor Granholm explained that the grant will assist investigators from police agencies across the state in matching known offender samples to forensic case samples from violent crimes such as homicide, sexual assault, and robbery.

CODIS is the national DNA database that allows for DNA profiles from open cases and convicted felons to be compared nationwide. As a result of this program, the Michigan CODIS database will grow to be one of the largest DNA databases in the country.

Under this program, Michigan will outsource 7,000 to 10,000 convicted felon samples per month. With the resources provided by this program, it is anticipated that the Michigan CODIS backlog will be cleared in 12 months.

"Thanks to the funds provided by the NIJ, the Michigan CODIS database will grow to be in excess of 100,000 convicted felon DNA profiles," stated Colonel Tadarial J. Sturdivant, director of the Michigan State Police (MSP). "The impact of this to the criminal justice system will be tremendous, as it will provide for the identification of individuals responsible for unsolved crimes, dramatically enhancing law enforcement’s continued efforts in this state."

This is the third federal grant in two years that has been awarded to the Michigan State Police Forensic Science Division. In September 2002, MSP was awarded a $1.4 million grant from the NIJ to support efforts to analyze the state’s DNA caseload. The grant was used to process more than 1,200 of the 26,000 "no-suspect" forensic cases at the MSP and the City of Detroit crime laboratories.

A 2001 grant for $717,900 from the NIJ helped to clear a backlog of CODIS database cases in 2001.

Michigan State Police Director Colonel Tadarial J. Sturdivant has designated DNA analysis as one of the agency’s top priorities. According to Sturdivant, "No scientific development in the last quarter century has the capability of offering as significant an impact on our ability to solve crime and apprehend dangerous criminals as DNA."

The MSP typically processes 2,250 forensic cases over the course of a year. A case includes one or more evidentiary samples.

Read more press releases from the Michigan State Police.