U.S. flag
      An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.
        Here's how you know
      Here's how you know**Official websites use .gov**
            
            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
      **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
            
            A **lock** (
            A locked padlock
            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Menu

      
        close

            
            
                                              About NIJ
        
                    
  
          About NIJ
      
    
          The NIJ Director
          How NIJ Is Organized
          Mission and Guiding Principles
          Research and Development Process
          Strategic Framework
          Assessments of NIJ
          Annual Reports & Reports to Congress
          Staff Directory
          Funding & Awards
        
                    
  
          Funding & Awards
      
    
          Current Funding
          Forthcoming Funding
          Expired Funding
          Awards: Listing of Funded Projects
          Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
          Fellowship & Student Programs
          Travel Scholarships
          NIJ Challenge Program
          Library & Multimedia
        
                    
  
          Library & Multimedia
      
    
          NIJ Journal
          Podcasts
          Publications Listing
          Multimedia Listing
          Rated Practices on CrimeSolutions
          Rated Programs on CrimeSolutions
          Software & Databases
          Datasets
          Patents
          Topics
        
                    
  
          Topics
      
    
          Article Listing
          Corrections
          Courts
          Crime Prevention
          Crimes
          Drugs and Crime
          Equipment and Technology
          Forensic Sciences
          Youth Justice
          Justice System Reform
          Law Enforcement
          Tribal Crime and Justice
          Victims of Crime
          Events
        
                    
  
          Events
      
    
          NIJ 2024 Research Conference
          Scheduled Events
          On-Demand Events
          Research Meetings & Workshops
          NIJ-Hosted Online Training

                            
                                About
          Contact Us
          Subscribe
          Topics A-Z
                  Share
FacebookXLinkedInRedditPinterestEmail Home
                            Funding & Awards
 FY-15 Forensic DNA Backlog Reduction Program - Anne Arundel County Police Department Crime Laboratory
Award Information
Awardee
              Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Award #
              2015-DN-BX-0069
Funding Category
              Formula
Location
                    Annapolis, MD
Congressional District
              3
Status
              Closed
Funding First Awarded
              2015
Total funding (to date)
              $132,516
Original Solicitation
              NIJ FY 15 DNA Capacity Enhancement and Backlog Reduction Program
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2015, $132,516)
A grant award under the FY15 DNA Backlog Reduction Program would support ongoing capacity increases in the Forensic Biology/DNA Unit of the Anne Arundel County Police Department Crime Laboratory. Enhanced productivity (case output) and efficiency is expected to reduce the existing case backlog thereby decreasing the overall turnaround times for newly submitted Forensic Biology cases through the following objectives:
i) Retention of a full-time W-2 temporary grant-funded Biology/DNA analyst via salary funding to perform independent DNA casework analyses.
ii)  Retention of a full-time W2 temporary grant-funded Biology/DNA laboratory technician via salary funding.  This lab tech will assist the Biology Unit with various lab duties (Quality Assurance/Quality Control duties, general housekeeping, reagent preparation, administrative duties, etc.) which will allow analysts to devote more time to case working duties resulting in an increase in case output.
iii) Funding for overtime (approximately 400 hours over the award period) for the DNA unit.
iv) Purchase of laboratory consumables (pipette tips, etc.) for the DNA unit.
First, this award would fund the retention of the (W-2 FTE Chemist II under temporary County contract) forensic analyst to conduct in-house Biology/DNA casework. This individual will be directly involved in the handling and analysis of forensic cases submitted to the Biology/DNA Unit. As an NDIS-participating laboratory, the individual is also responsible for the data entry and/or reviewing of eligible DNA profile data from that casework into CODIS as applicable. The scope of this position also involves peer reviewing Unit case files, participation in quality assurance and control duties both in the Unit and Lab wide as needed and providing expert witness testimony. Other duties as assigned may also be performed.
Secondly, this award would provide funding to retain the Biology/DNA lab tech (W-2 FTE under temporary County contract) to assist the Biology Unit with various lab duties.  The support function provided by this position aids in reducing the backlog.  The essential tasks performed by the lab technician, such as QA/QC duties, general housekeeping, reagent preparation and administrative tasks, are duties that cannot be accomplished by the analysts on an on-going basis without negatively impacting case turnaround times and throughput.  As such, this position allows analysts to devote more time to case working duties and backlog reduction.
Third, funding for approximately 400 of overtime hours for the DNA unit would assist in backlog reduction in that at least 80 additional cases would be completed over the award period.  400 hours of overtime would correlate to about 6 hours per analyst per month for the award period.
Lastly, some laboratory consumables, such as pipette tips, will be needed for the DNA unit to perform DNA analysis duties.  An additional grant funded position as well as overtime hours for the DNA unit would result in the need for additional consumables.
These requests are critical to addressing the current case submissions levels for the Unit to meet or exceed adequate turnaround times for trial date deadlines and to manage the backlog. In the absence of this analyst position, lab tech position, as well as overtime hours, the backlog will spike severely resulting in missed court dates within a very short period of time (<6mos). The position is expected to result in more than 50% of the Unit's case output in one year (>240 cases) with additional case output anticipated with the overtime hours available to the DNA unit.  As such, the backlog can be expected to vastly decrease over the award period.
nca/ncf.

  
Date Created: September 17, 2015
    
          Side navigation
  

        

  
  
              Current Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Forthcoming Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Expired Funding
    
      
            
            
            
      Awards: Listing of Funded Projects
    
      
            
            
            
      Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
    
      
            
            
            
      Fellowship & Student Programs
    
      
            
            
            
      Travel Scholarships
    
      
            
            
            
      NIJ Challenge ProgramSimilar Awards
        
                      Support Activities under Section 13(d) of Executive Order 14074: Workshops on Law Enforcement Use of Probabilistic DNA Technologies and Person-based Predictive Policing
                  DNA Typing Strategies for Identification of Human Remains via Real-Time Nanopore Sequencing
                  Comparative Evaluation of Massively Parallel Sequencing STR kits with the Emphasis on Mixture Deconvolution Utilizing Probabilistic Genotyping.
 Top

      National Institute of Justice

        
        
                        About NIJ
                    About NIJ
      
    
                  How NIJ Is Organized
      
    
                  NIJ Director
      
    
                  Research Disclaimer
      
    
                  Funding & Awards
                    Funding & Awards Home
      
    
                  Awards Listing
      
    
                  Current Funding
      
    
                  Guidance for Applicants and Awardees
      
    
                  Resources
                    Events
      
    
                  Podcasts
      
    
                  Publications
      
    
                  Topics
      
    
                  Multimedia
      
    
                  Reuse Policy
      
    
                  Contacts
                    Contact NIJ
      
    
                  Staff Directory
      
    
                  Submit a FOIA Request
      
    
                  File a Civil Rights ComplaintFacebook
          
                      X
          
                      YouTube
  

      810 7th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20531
      
              Secondary Footer link menu
            Accessibility
              Plain Language
              Privacy Policy
              Legal Policies and Disclaimer
              No FEAR Act
              Freedom of Information Act
              USA.gov
              Justice.gov