FBI lab once again under scrutiny

[pbray]

FBI to review lab work in thousands of cases.

Original Washington Post article here, may require registration to read.

The new review goes back at least as far as 1985. A previous review of FBI Forensic Lab work was done in the mid-90s which uncovered major problems and led to reforms, but obviously they must have reason to believe that the previous review didn't catch all the problems. Nor did their reformed culture stop systemic problems from occurring in later years.

Particularly troubling is that the FBI has apparently known about the problems with hair and fiber evidence for years and failed to act, a pattern that we've seen from them before.

Since 2009 the National Academy of Sciences has been pushing to put the science back into forensic science, and this latest FBI review appears to be at least in part a result of their efforts. Of course you can't help but wonder-- if they get it so wrong at the FBI level, how bad is it in the smaller crime labs around the country?

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Oh, that's worrying.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

It is. The National Academy of Sciences report in 2009 was scathing, referring to much of what is presented in courtrooms in this country as junk science. We already know that problematic scientific methods and misleading testimony has been used to convict people, some of whom have later been executed. The only real question is how widespread the problem is and how many cases are caught up in it.

And it doesn't help that the juries want to see CSI style evidence, because that's what they expect from watching TV, so there's a tremendous pressure on police departments and crime labs to produce those kind of results.

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

I would also think that the worryingly low level of scientific literacy in the general population (not helped by some piss-poor science reporting by a lot of media ... which is a whole other discussion) probably also doesn't help.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah that plays in there as well. Not to mention how few people understand statistics.

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

OMG yeah. "What do you mean, it's not dangerous for my kid to walk to school without me? I don't care if there are only 115 stranger abductions per year in the US! IT'S TOO DANGEROUS!!!"

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

I hope they can get it sorted and fixed effectively and quickly. The implications, though...

[mtlawson.livejournal.com]

At the smaller labs they're so far behind in their casework it isn't even funny. Even if they weren't using the proper techniques it wouldn't matter because the average crime lab has years of backlog to work through.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

And it's getting worse with all the budget cuts.

[mtlawson.livejournal.com]

And when the FBI tries to make do with the budget restrictions placed on them and the pressure from the NRA, what ends up happening is Fast and Furious.