GOVERNOR O’MALLEY ANNOUNCES FOUR DNA POLICE LABS RECEIVE FEDERAL RECOVERY FUNDING

Recovery Act Funding to support local Forensic Crime Lab efforts

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Martin O’Malley today announced that the Governor’s Office of Crime Control & Prevention (GOCCP) has awarded $1,234,669.00 from a second round of Recovery Grant funding to four Law Enforcement DNA Crime Labs in Maryland. The funds will assist the labs in analyzing crime scene evidence. DNA Crime Laboratories run by the Maryland State Police, the Baltimore Police Department, the Prince George’s County Police Department and the Montgomery County Police Department will use the funds to analyze DNA evidence collected at crime scenes.

“DNA – our modern fingerprint – is increasingly allowing law enforcement across the country to take repeat violent offenders off our streets, and are absolutely critical to our crime prevention efforts,” said Governor O’Malley. “I am proud to announce that these recovery funds will help assist these crime labs to continue our work in making our neighborhoods and our families safer.”

“Processing evidence taken from crime scenes will enable police to match DNA taken from the scene of a crime to the DNA processed from suspects,” GOCCP Executive Director Kristen O’Malley said. “Matching DNA will provide compelling evidence when criminals are tried for crimes in court.”

The grants, which were provided by the Byrne Justice Recovery Act program, distributed funding as follows:

Maryland State Police $ 374,871
Baltimore Police Department $ 375,000
Prince George’s County Police Department $ 209,798
Montgomery County Police Department $ 275,000


As a result of legislation signed by Governor O’Malley, individuals charged with crimes of violence, 1st, 2nd, or 3rd degree burglary or attempting these crimes are now also required to provide a DNA sample. The use of DNA technology to identify offenders and solve criminal cases quickly is a vital instrument in Maryland’s mission to provide safe and sustainable communities for every Maryland resident.

After clearing an inherited backlog of over 24,000 uncollected DNA samples, the State of Maryland achieved its 1,000th a year ago, having matched as many samples in two years as had been matched in Maryland during the previous eight. By the end of its second year in office, the Administration uploaded 46,400 DNA samples to the federal government’s combined DNA index system. To date, DNA has been used to make 192 arrests, including 15 individuals who were arrested for homicide, and 97 arrested for sexual offenses, in the past two and a half years. And last year DNA was one of several tools and strategies which allowed Maryland to achieve its second greatest statewide reduction in homicides since 1985. Since January of this year, when the newly reformed DNA collection law took affect, the State has collected 10,877 new samples, achieved 37 total hits, and used these hits to arrest ten violent individuals who might otherwise be on the streets committing further crimes.