The Chronicle‘s Steve McVicker reports that the Houston Police Department has failed in its latest attempt to gain accreditation for the crime lab:
A national panel rejected the Houston Police Department’s effort to have its troubled crime laboratory accredited by the end of February.
In a meeting Saturday in New Orleans, the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors told HPD lab director Irma Rios that auditors had found problems with the evidence chain-of-custody record-keeping.
[snip]
On Feb. 16, Police Chief Harold Hurtt told state lawmakers investigating the crime lab that he hoped to have it accredited by the end of February.
On Tuesday, state Reps. Kevin Bailey, D-Houston, and Robert Talton, R-Pasadena, filed a bill that would establish regional DNA crime labs that would be overseen by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
[snip]
“It’s two years later and they still can’t get accredited,” the state lawmaker said. “You don’t see any real evidence that they’re making a whole lot of progress.”
In all fairness, Mayor White and Chief Hurtt have been very busy with other priorities, such as Tasers, red-light cameras, SAFEclear, and the like.
We’re sure, though, that the sky is the limit now that Chief Hurtt is in uniform.
Laurence Simon has further thoughts on this news.
