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Shelby County funds a 90-day plan to build rapid DNA and digital forensics capacity
Summary
Mayor's office and consultants won committee backing to spend up to $70,000 on a 90-day, execution-focused consultant engagement to create a coordinated rapid DNA and digital forensics model across Shelby County agencies to reduce backlogs and speed investigations.
Dana Wilson, deputy chief of staff to Mayor Lee Harris, asked the commission to approve a focused consultant engagement to build countywide capacity for rapid DNA and digital forensics. "Rapid DNA and digital forensics capacities are fragmented across law enforcement agencies in Shelby County," Wilson said. She and other presenters said that fragmentation produces backlogs and inconsistent evidence processing.
Consultant Kim Brown described how rapid DNA would be used in booking and investigative settings to produce preliminary matches that investigators can then confirm through TBI or CODIS. "Rapid DNA is a relatively quick turnaround, less than 24 hours, almost instantaneously," Brown said; another presenter described machine-run processing that can return results in 90 minutes to two hours in a booking context.
Commissioners asked whether the 90-day engagement would resolve existing testing backlogs and how the work would connect to confirmatory testing and prosecutorial steps; presenters said the effort is investigative-first and will produce an operational model and implementation path for county and municipal partners. The committee voted unanimously in the session to forward the contract (tally: 5 ayes) with a favorable recommendation.
