Posted by CotoBlogzz
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA – Earlier this month, the Orange County Crime Lab (OCCL) discovered a
clerical error in calibrating one of two machines used to analyze blood alcohol
concentration. The error affects cases from the end of May 2013 to the
beginning of October 2013.
According to an Orange County Sheriff Department’s (OCSD)
press release, following the discovery, the OCCL conducted a full audit of the
last five years of DUI alcohol casework. In the course of that audit, the
OCCL discovered a calibration error of
other blood alcohol instrument between December 2012 and May 2013. One
hundred blood samples processed between these two dates will be corrected.
We should note that we were not only critical of
the integrity of the OCCL’s
American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors ( ASCLD) accreditation, but also questioned
the value of the fanfare associated with the accreditation’s announcement. Subsequently, a congressionally mandated report from the National Research
Council released in early 2009 supported our concerns.
Now, we assert that calibration errors are as basic as
blocking and tackling in football.
Meaning that if ASCL accreditation has any value, calibration errors
should never happen. And we assert that
this is just the tip of the iceberg. Dramatically shrinking gnome sequencing
costs and mishandling and or abusing DNA processing are much bigger concerns.
According to the same press release, “the OCCL is working
with ASCLD to document all corrective
actions taken and the procedural changes detecting all calibrator variations.
Additionally, the OCCL is cooperating fully with Orange County Sheriff Sandra
Hutchens and the Orange County Board of Supervisors to request an audit by the
California Department of Health to confirm all procedural and casework
standards.”
On a related story, the state of California is responsible
for auditing the state’s Sheriffs departments.
Our research indicates that the state has not audited the Los Angeles,
San Diego or the Orange County Sheriff departments.
Related Stories
OC-CSI is Official – OCSD ASCLD/LAB Certified
July 15, 2008
The OC Sheriff Department’s Forensic Science Services
Division is now Orange County’s only ASCLD accredited, full service law
enforcement crime lab that provides crime scene investigation and laboratory
examinations on evidence in all forensic disciplines, including fingerprints,
DNA, toxicology and firearms to name a few. Their services are provided free to
all law enforcement agencies within the county.
Posted by: CotoBlogzz | 02/19/2009
3:00 PM
The good news is that the OCSD’s
Crime Lab reported a new record for DNA database hits. The Lab
obtained 32 hits in a single day on Feb, 1 2009, beating the last hit record of
22 in one day set in September 2006.
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