Contra Costa County Grand Jury
• 2018-2019
• Agency Response
Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff David O. Livingston Sheriff - Coroner June 11, 2019 VIA Email and U.s. Mail*
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 7 findings
F1
The 25 agencies that responded to the RFI affirmed their satisfaction with the quality of analysis performed by the Crime Lab. The Office of the Sheriff agrees with the finding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
The Sheriff's Office should consider preparing a five-year stragetic plan for the Crime Lab by December 31, 2020. The recommendation has not yet been implemented, but will be implemented in the future. The Forensic Services Division will explore the need for an independent five-year strategic plan, and/or to improve upon the incorporation of its goals into the greater departmental stragetic plan already in existence
F2
The Crime Lab's average analysis turn-around time is 30 days, depending on the test. The Office of the Sheriff agrees with the finding. The Crime Lab indicates it can do more crime evidence testing.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
As part of a five-year strategic plan, the Sheriff's Office should consider evaluating whether to consolidate its Crime Lab facilities, assess staffing needs, and develop an equipment update plan by December 31, 2020. The recommendation has not yet been implemented, but will be implemented in the future. An enhanced Forensic Services stragetic plan will seek to evaluate the need for enhanced facilities, staffing, and equipment
F3
The Office of the Sheriff agrees with the finding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
The Sheriff's Office should consider expanding its outreach to all law enforcement agencies in the County to promote its newly acquired equipment, turnaround times, and available capacity for testing by December 31, 2019. The recommendation has not yet been implemented, but will be implemented in the future. The expansion of outreach to all county law enforcement agencies will Letter to Richard S. Nakano, Foreperson, 2018-2019 Contra Costa County Civil Grand Jury June 11, 2019 continue to be enhanced to better promote newly acquired equipment, updated turnaround times, and available capacity for testing
F4
The Crime Lab confirmed it has no stragetic plan to address its future needs, including facilities, staffing, and equipment replacement. The Office of the Sheriff partially disagrees with the finding, as our Accreditation Program does include a Management Review with a future needs assessment. We are also constantly assessing and forecasting staffing and equipment replacement 651 PINE STREET • MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA 94553 • (925) 335-1500 Letter to Richard S. Nakano, Foreperson, 2018-2019 Contra Costa County Civil Grand Jury June 11, 2019 needs as they relate to the overall workload and requests for service of the Lab. Additionally, the Forensic Services Division is part of the formalized Office of the Sheriff Stragetic Plan 2017-2020, which is a ongoing, living document for the agency. The Crime Lab indicated that having Summit Lab, Muir Lab, and Property and Evidence
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
To eliminate redundancy of effort and seek a competitive rate, the Sheriff's Office should consider studying the possibility of becoming the GSR testing contract organization for all law enforcement agencies in the County by December 31, 2020. This recommendation requires further analysis and research based on like-sized agencies and needs. Information will be sought and analysis conducted on the fiscal and operational feasibility of becoming a GSR testing contract organization for law enforcement agencies in the County by December 31, 2020. One correction regarding Rapid DNA should be made in the SUMMARY report on , under the Biology Unit section, which reads, "This unit recently acquired a RapidHIT ID system." Please note that the Biology Unit has recently acquired a Rapid DNA ANDE 6C System (not a RapidHIT ID System). Sincerely, DAYID O. LIVINGSTON Sheriff-Coroner DOL:sl
F5
Services operating in separate locations inhibits cross-training and supervision of staff. The Office of the Sheriff agrees with the finding. Even with the Crime Lab's annual updates, not all law enforcement agencies in the
No recommendations for this finding
F6
County are fully aware of newly acquired equipment, turnaround times, and available capacity for testing. The Office of the Sheriff agrees with the finding.
No recommendations for this finding
F7
The Sheriff's Office and the other 27 County law enforcement agencies use outside labs for GSR testing. The Office of the Sheriff agrees with the finding. As for the recommendations:
No recommendations for this finding
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.