Enhancement of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Forensic DNA Laboratory, Final Activities Report

• NCJ Number: 174808
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 1 page
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored

Annotation

This project to enhance the Forensic DNA Laboratory of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), included the purchase of appropriate computer hardware and software to install the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) at TBI's regional crime laboratories in Nashville, Knoxville, and Jackson, and the development of TBI's capabilities to perform short tandem repeat (STR) DNA analysis on evidential casework and convicted offender samples.

Abstract

Purchase and installation of all computer hardware and software for CODIS were completed in a timely manner, and secure modems were installed at each laboratory. The only problem that occurred relative to CODIS installation involved the lack of networking capabilities with other States. Purchase and installation of all equipment required for TBI forensic scientists to develop the capability to perform STR-DNA analysis on evidential casework and convicted sex offenders were accomplished in a timely manner. Validation and population data base studies using STR protocols were completed in 1997 using nine STR loci, and studies on four additional loci were later completed. The initiation of STR-DNA analysis on evidential casework and convicted offender samples was to have begun in TBI's Nashville crime laboratory in the fall of 1998.