A recent audit of the Houston fingerprinting lab revealed the police department’s methods result in a number of problems. Auditors have reviewed 548 cases and found that 53% should have required further testing. There are, in fact, so many problems at the lab that investigators are now reviewing their work on all violent crime cases over the last six years.
Problems the department has revealed include low staffing numbers, lack of supervisory review, poor quality review, knowledge inconsistent with industry standards, poor training and below average operating procedures. Since the audit, many employees have been placed on administrative leave and replaced with consultants hired by the department.
As of yet, no wrong identifications have been identified, but it seems likely that any Houston criminal attorneys filing appeals will incorporate this knowledge into their cases.
To read more about the problems in the lab, see the article in the Houston Chronicle. Image Via leeechy [Flickr].