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REP. ROB ANDREWS WORKS TO REDUCE DNA DATABASE BACKLOG |
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WASHINGTON,D.C. — Congressman Rob Andrews (D-NJ01) announces that the State of New Jersey will receive over $1.2 million in funding from the federal government for the further expansion and improvement of the DNA CODIS Database, a tool used by law enforcement officials to solve violent crimes with the use of DNA information. For the last five months, Congressman Andrews has successfully lobbied the Department of Justice's National Institute of Justice to bring this $1,272,254 in funding for increased crime-solving capabilities to the state. Since initially contacting the Department of Justice by letter on January 6, 2003, Congressman Andrews has remained in continuous contact with DOJ officials to advocate on New Jersey's behalf, culminating in today's award announcement.
This funding will allow New Jersey law enforcement officials to analyze approximately 1,500 DNA samples, particularly from unsolved sexual assault cases, that have been stored in repositories throughout the state. For these cases, law enforcement officials have collected biological evidence from a crime, but have not been able to identify a suspect. The analysis of these samples, as enabled by this federal funding, will allow law enforcement officials to reduce the number of untested no suspect cases and to use CODIS effectively to solve no suspect crimes which involve DNA evidence. The DNA profiles obtained from this analysis will be entered into CODIS and searched for possible "hits" in order to identify possible rapists as well as other violent crime offenders. |
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