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Forensic scientists ask committee to restore practitioner seats on oversight board
Summary
MOSES urged the Joint Committee to report H.B. 2,660 and S.1,717 favorably to return employee representation — including a MOSES seat and Boston police crime-lab representation — to the Forensic Science Oversight Board that advises the Secretary of Public Safety.
The Massachusetts Organization of State Engineers and Scientists (MOSES) told the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security that H.B. 2,660 and S.1,717 would restore frontline workforce representation to the state’s Forensic Science Oversight Board.
Joe Duran, legislative chair of MOSES, said the 2018 criminal-justice reform law replaced the former Forensic Science Advisory Board with the oversight board and removed explicit workforce seats, including MOSES representation. That omission, Duran testified, reduced the secretary’s access to the technical expertise of working forensic scientists who collect evidence, perform testing and testify in court.
“Advice to the secretary on these topics without the input of representatives of those who perform these functions would significantly limit the secretary's ability to make sound and informed decisions,” Duran said. The proposed bills would add MOSES and a Boston Police crime-lab representative to the board to ensure technical expertise and frontline experience inform state policy on accreditation, turnaround time, staffing and funding.
Why it matters: Duran said the oversight board advises on forensic services volume, capacity, accreditation and funding; MOSES’s membership includes scientists across multiple agencies whose practical knowledge would inform policy decisions about laboratory operations and resource needs.
The committee heard the request and took no vote; Duran asked the committee to send the bills forward with favorable reports.
