County DNA lab gets much-needed expansion
By Ron Hayes
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
September 22, 2006
If everyone who ever pondered breaking the law in Palm Beach County could only tour the sheriff's newly renovated DNA laboratory, there's no telling how much the crime rate might plummet.
You don't have to understand bio-science to see we've come a long
way from Sherlock Holmes' magnifying glass.
"This will allow us to do at least 45 percent more work," said
DNA Supervisor Cecelia Crousecq, who allowed members of the media a
rare look inside the usually off-limits department. It is where she
and her staff use the human genetic code to help solve some of humanity's
worst crimes, both by helping to convict the guilty and exonerate the
innocent.
In 1992, Crouse said, the DNA lab opened with 2,600 square feet of space and equipment to accommodate a staff of four. Now the office area has expanded to 8,600 square feet, with work space for 12.
The expansion, which was completed in June, was paid for with an $870,000 federal grant, supplemented by an additional $400,000 from the county, Crouse said.
And it's needed.
In 2004, the department handled 884 cases; in 2005, 1,835.
So far this year, it's tallied 2,630 cases, and next year Crouse predicts her staff will be asked to identify, extract and examine DNA evidence from 3,945 cases.
And each of those cases could involve dozens of samples to be tested.
"The battle is not in the time it takes to do the DNA," Crouse explained. "It's the time it takes to find the stains. Once we get stains, DNA is a piece of cake. But the problem is, most of our samples are not from single sources."
In other words, she's not looking for DNA off an envelope that's probably been licked by only one person. She's looking for it on a gear shift that's been handled by several people. Is it the DNA of the car's owner? Or of a stranger?
Using mock evidence, the department's forensic scientists demonstrated how they go about it.
In the two new screening rooms, ultraviolet light seeks out blood and semen stains on clothing.
In the DNA extraction room, cells from that stain are turned into liquid form.
And in the amplication room, that liquid sample becomes a DNA bar code suitable for comparison with other DNA bar codes.
"This is where we create the DNA fingerprint," explained Amy McGuckian, the department's technical leadercq. "And from that we can make millions of copies for comparsion with evidence from other crime scenes or to other individuals in the national DNA database."
Just last week, the American Bar Assocation released a report that noted Florida leads the nation in Death Row exonerations. Since 1973, when the death penalty was reinstated, Florida has executed 60 inmates. But another 22 have been exonerated, and DNA is increasingly a factor.
With the popularity of television's CSI crime series, more Americans no doubt know the term DNA than could tell you what it stands for (deoxyribonucleic acid), but Crouse said the reality of her job is not like television's fantasies.
"We're not ubiquitous," she said. "We're not out there dealing with victims. We're scientists, so we're locked in here for a reason.
"Also, on those shows the detective always says, 'Test this,' and it's tested. In here, we say, 'All right, but there's 30 cases in front of you.'"