News
September 12, 2008
harkin announces $500,000 for cold case squad at iowa crime lab
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) announced today that Iowa Department of Public Safety will receive a $500,000 grant from the Department of Justice (DOJ). The funds will be used to reduce the DNA backlog at the Iowa State Crime Lab. Harkin is a senior member of the Senate panel that funds DOJ programs.
“Iowans and our law enforcement community deserve access to the latest technologies and innovations to help solve crimes,” said Harkin. “I am glad this federal investment will allow the Department of Public Safety to serve Iowans to a higher degree.”
This funding will allow the Iowa State Crime Lab to develop a cold case squad to begin analyzing DNA evidence in unsolved crimes and increase the capacity of the statewide DNA felon database. States that have implemented felon databases have experienced “hit” rates as high as 8 percent, and nationally over 6,000 cold cases have been solved through a combination of felon databases and solid cold case investigations.
