Contra Costa County crime lab gets $376,101 grant

Contra Costa, California – A $376,101 grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) DNA Capacity Enhancement for Backlog Reduction (CEBR) Program was awarded to The Forensic Services Division of the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff.

The funding will be used for purchase of new equipment and instrumentation and to hire a forensic analyst.

This will increase the capacity to process more DNA samples, thereby helping to reduce the number of forensic DNA and DNA database samples awaiting analysis and to prevent a backlog of forensic and database DNA samples, like those collected at crime scenes.

“This grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance will increase our capacity and help us better serve law enforcement agencies and crime victims,” said Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston. “This will increase our efficiency of testing and enable us to provide quicker results to law enforcement and prosecutors on DNA cases in Contra Costa County.”

The Forensic Services Division hopes to hire a new forensic analyst by the end of the year.