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Glendale delays crime lab construction pending regional partner decisions and programming
Summary
Council members pressed staff over the apparent two‑year slip in the crime lab schedule and a $4 million carryover intended for programming and design; staff said the city is pursuing regional partners to share costs and will use the $4 million to complete programming and design work before construction.
Glendale city staff told the City Council on March 4 that the planned local crime laboratory has been moved later in the capital improvement plan as the city gathers information about potential West Valley partner participation and completes programming for the facility.
Council members complained that the project appears delayed two years compared with last year’s CIP and asked why the $4,000,000 the council had previously set aside for design and study was not shown clearly as carryover in the printed materials. “I never received a memo telling me what’s happening,” Council Member Turner said, adding that residents expect the lab to move forward after the public safety bond vote.
City staff responded that the $4,000,000 is being carried into FY26 and will be used for programming and to hire a consultant to prepare design documents. “The $4,000,000 is meant to handle programming and to also design,” a member of staff said. Staff described the programming step as necessary to determine how large the facility must be and whether Glendale will build a lab to serve only Glendale or a regional facility with other West Valley cities.
Rick St. John and other city staff said outreach to West Valley partners has shown “a great deal of interest from most cities” but that at least one large West Valley city has chosen a different path and is pursuing its own real‑time crime center. That shift affects how Glendale programs the lab because equipment licensing and certification for DNA/forensic equipment can be lengthy and expensive, staff said.
Council members repeatedly urged faster action and clearer communication. “We want to get this thing out of the ground,” Council Member Turner said. Several council members said voters supported public safety projects and expect progress. Staff said design work could proceed once programming is done and that $3.9 million remaining after initial programming would be enough for design; completion of design could carry the project into FY28 before construction would begin.
The discussion did not produce a formal motion or vote. Staff said they will continue outreach to potential West Valley partners and will return with additional schedule and cost information.
Why it matters: The crime lab was a major element of the prior public safety bond conversations; delays affect evidence processing timelines and the county/state‑level forensic backlog that council members cited in public comments. The city must resolve scope (Glendale‑only vs. regional), licensing timelines for specialized equipment, and the programming/design schedule before issuing construction contracts.
