San Francisco committee backs civil grand jury calls for crime‑lab reforms, asks for implementation plan

The Government Audit and Oversight Committee on a special morning meeting reviewed the civil grand jury’s 2015–16 report on the San Francisco Police Department crime lab and agreed the city should move toward science‑led leadership while studying full administrative separation.

The grand jury foreperson, Jay Cunningham, introduced Chuck Thompson, who told supervisors that the lab’s credibility had been damaged by a string of incidents — including a cocaine theft, a DNA sample mix‑up in a homicide and two criminalists failing a proficiency test — and recommended two steps: hire a civilian forensic services director and, ultimately, create an autonomous crime lab outside police administration. Thompson said the turnover of police captains — six directors of forensic services since 2010 — undercuts continuity and cited a 2009 National Academy of Sciences recommendation that forensic labs be independent of law‑enforcement oversight.

Why it matters: Supervisors said the city needs to both restore public confidence in forensic work and ensure the city’s approach is sustainable. Committee members endorsed the first step — recruiting a civilian forensic services director — while reserving judgment on full separation until more analysis is completed on cost, chain‑of‑custody and legal impacts.

Deputy Chief Denise Schmidt, speaking for the police department, said the department and the mayor largely agree with the grand jury’s findings and have begun implementing changes. She told the committee that JusticeTrack was selected as the LIMS vendor, customization is under way and four of six newly created DNA analyst positions have been onboarded and are in training. Schmidt said the department is building the LIMS to meet FBI/CAL‑ID standards and to allow licensed access for stakeholders such as prosecutors and defense counsel.

The committee treated two formal recommendations differently. Supervisor Norman Yee moved that Recommendation RA2 — which would direct the mayor and controller to transfer budget, facilities, assets and management of the crime lab from SFPD to the General Services Agency — be continued for further analysis and that the Police Department and General Services produce a feasibility proposal for the GAO committee by Oct. 6. The committee adopted that motion without objection. For Recommendation RB1 (the LIMS), the committee accepted the mayor’s office and department explanation that the contract was executed in spring 2016 and customization is ongoing; members agreed to change the response language to say the recommendation is "in process" rather than fully implemented because the system will not be fully operational until spring 2017.

What was not resolved: The larger question of fully de‑linking the crime lab from SFPD — a reform some jurisdictions have tried with mixed results — will require further study. Department witnesses warned that creating a separate agency could raise costs and introduce additional transfers of evidence that might complicate chain‑of‑custody unless planned carefully.

Next steps: The committee will retain oversight of the matter, expect a hiring timeline update on the forensic services director search and receive the feasibility plan requested by Oct. 6; it will forward its committee recommendations to the full Board of Supervisors for a September hearing.

Quotes reflecting the record: "The operations and independence of the crime lab would be strengthened by a greater continuity at the top, led by an experienced civilian scientist," the grand jury’s presenter said. Deputy Chief Schmidt said JusticeTrack "is on board" and that the LIMS customization will let stakeholders generate reports and receive secure access to results.

The committee closed public comment with no speakers on items 1 and 2 and adopted its committee report as amended.