The St. Paul City Council approved a $1 million plan Wednesday to improve the St. Paul Police Department's crime lab, which has faced many problems recently, news sources report.
According to the Star Tribune, Assistant Chief Bill Martinez and Sergeant Trish Englund said that the re-vamped crime lab will continue to do fingerprinting and crime scene related work, but will outsource drug testing to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension lab, where better drug testing equipment is found.
Part of the money will go toward hiring a certified forensic scientist and an experienced lab director. Two scientists will also be hired to work specifically for St. Paul cases at the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension lab, reports the Star Tribune.
An article by the Pioneer Press reports that last summer a hearing declared that the crime lab's drug testing procedures were unacceptable. Following the hearing, Chris Tolbert, a part-time prosecutor in Hennepin County and a council member, told the Pioneer Press that the council and the city were disappointed with the condition of the lab and the results that it was producing.
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