(The Center Square) – The annual report from Wisconsin’s state crime lab showed that there was an increase in turnaround time for some categories of evidence.
MacIver Institute criticized the Department of Justice for prioritizing what it calls “politically-motivated lawfare” by investigating Wausau Mayor Doug Diny moving a ballot drop box rather than prioritizing public safety.
“While the DOJ apparently has the time and resources to investigate Josh Kaul’s political opponents, he pleads poor when it comes to what citizens actually care about: keeping Wisconsin safe,” MacIver CEO Annette Olson said. “This report is shocking, alarming, damning. Attorney General Kaul’s handling of the Wisconsin crime labs – after claiming it was a top priority when he ran for office – is yet another example of his office failing to protect Wisconsin residents. Our state’s crime lab is essential to a functioning justice system, and under Josh Kaul, it’s not working.”
The average time for processing analysis of controlled substances went from 61 days in 2021 to 84 days in 2022 and 110 days in 2023 with a similar number of samples submitted.
DNA casework average wait times went from 128 days in 2021 to 84 in 2022 to 108 in 2023. Forensic imaging wait times went from 70 days in 2021 to 83 in 2022 to 79 in 2023.
Timelines improved for toxicology reports with 48 days of wait time in 2021 to 84 days in 2022 to 64 days in 2023 as the number of cases dropped from 3,855 in 2022 to 3,042 in 2023.
The DOJ Division of Forensic Sciences pointed to a June Legislative Audit Bureau report on the state crime lab and its timelines, saying the report only gave a few suggestions to improve timeliness including formally establishing policies on timeliness.
“Absent a large drop in workload (which is not anticipated) or unforeseen technological advancements, meaningfully reducing turnaround times (TAT) requires more trained staff,” crime lab leadership wrote in the annual report. “However, the legislature declined to authorize many of the positions for the crime labs that DOJ had requested in recent state budgets, including the 2023-25 biennial budget, in which the legislature included just three of the 16 positions for the crime labs that DOJ had requested. In the upcoming state budget, DOJ is requesting 19 additional positions for DFS.”
Kaul agreed with the sentiment, saying that more staff is needed at the lab.
“The upcoming state budget must make the investment needed to adequately staff the labs,” Kaul said in a statement.
The report showed that crime lab cases finding fentanyl in samples rose from 18 in 2013 to 765 in 2023.
“This not only underscores the gravity of Wisconsin’s drug problem, but the failures of the open borders policies pushed by Kaul and fellow liberals like Vice President Kamala Harris,” Olson said.
