The Rhode Island State Crime Laboratory faces a critical shortage of both operating space and modern forensic science equipment. Located in borrowed space on the University of Rhode Island campus, the Crime Lab is unable to provide adequate support to law enforcement agencies in the state and often must request the assistance of the Connecticut and Massachusetts state police crime laboratories to perform analysis and examinations which should be routine for a modern state crime laboratory. It will be used to purchase replacement equipment for the Laboratory and provide advanced training to Crime Laboratory personnel in the latest technology available in forensic sciences. In December, Congress approved a bill to provide funding for forensic science laboratories that contained a provision sponsored by Reed to increase the amount of money that states with small populations receive for construction and upgrading of crime labs. I believe such a formula will allow state and local crime labs, coroners, and medical examiners in small states to better manage an enormous influx of new cases at a time when they face severe shortages of forensic science resources.
Delays caused by a shortage of proper equipment or lack of resources impede their ability to do so.