Houston ahead of curve in forensic science
After facing problems at the Houston Police Department’s crime lab in the 2000s, Houston has taken the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences comprehensive 2009 report and created an independent local governing body to run the lab. The Houston Forensic Science Local Governing Corporation is now, as Mayor Annise Parker says, working towards running the lab effectively and efficiently, without the sway of politics or the desires of police and prosecutors (Chron.com). Contrasted to the rest of the country, this shift in authority has the support of the Houston Police Department. Despite positive research for the idea that people in any organization will attempt to please those in charge, the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) are opposed to any effort for creating independent crime labs. Even in the face of 300 wrongful convictions, says professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, David Harris, they ignore the science and refuse to implement science-based law enforcement procedures by making crime labs independent.
Note: David Harris is also the author of “Failed Evidence: Why Law Enforcement Resists Science”
[Abstract by Mark Lombard, ForensIQ Update Intern]
