Editorial: DNA funding crisis

Friday, Sept. 3, 2004 | 8:55 a.m.

This week Dushon Green, a man suspected of being the East Flamingo rapist, was arrested after his DNA sample was matched to evidence recovered from his alleged victims. This appears to be an important break in solving the series of five rapes, which began in 1996 and ended in 1998. But, as the Las Vegas Sun reported Thursday, a closer look also reveals a breakdown in how quickly DNA samples from criminals are being matched to evidence in unsolved crimes. Metro Police has had Green's DNA since his pandering conviction in 2002, but because Metro is short of funding, it only has three scientists who test DNA samples, a situation that meant Green's DNA couldn't be tested immediately. Scientists instead focus on solving major, active crimes where someone is being detained. The same priority isn't given to the lengthy process of testing all criminal DNA on file to see if any produces a match in a case where there isn't a known suspect.

Metro, which receives funding from the Las Vegas City Council and the Clark County Commission, has had difficulty in recent years getting support to hire enough police officers, let alone sufficiently staff its labs. It's so bad that Metro is seeking passage of a ballot question this November to get more funding, but that money would be earmarked for police officers, not for lab employees. The only reason that a match was made in Green's case is because earlier this year Metro received a grant that allowed it to send 2,840 of its 3,800 untested samples to a private lab in Tennessee. Green's DNA was among those tested. But federal grants like this won't always be around. The City Council and the County Commission should give Metro the eight to 10 people that the head of Metro's criminalistic bureau says are needed to fully carry out its job. Fighting crime should be local government's top responsibility, which makes it all the more outrageous that we aren't providing enough mon! ey for DNA testing to solve violent crime cases.