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Police commission schedules policy review after DNA lab update that shows limited staffing and backlog distinctions
Summary
Commander David Lazard told the commission the SFPD DNA unit has one supervisor and six analysts, with 28 sexual‑assault cases actively worked and the department defining 'backlog' as unassigned cases. Commissioners set an Oct. 6 agenda for possible revisions to general orders on sexual‑assault/DNA testing.
Commander David Lazard, the department official overseeing forensic biology, told the San Francisco Police Commission on Aug. 25 that the SFPD crime laboratory’s DNA section currently has one supervisor and six analysts and is handling 28 active sexual‑assault investigations while another set of cases is under technical review. "There are 28 sexual‑assault cases that are being worked on in the lab," Lazard said during the commission’s community meeting in the Tenderloin.
Commissioners focused on staffing, backlog definitions and turnaround times as central to victim‑service outcomes. Lazard said the department defines a backlog as cases that are unassigned to an analyst or not yet contracted out; by that definition he reported three…
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