Rep. Garret Graves
Federal funding authorized by Congress earlier this year for the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office (EBRSO) to purchase a Rapid DNA test system that would help the office meet a record-setting increase in violent crime must be awarded as soon as possible, said U.S. Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA).
“Louisiana’s capital city is consistently listed among the top 10 most dangerous cities in America and in 2021 Baton Rouge reported 170 homicides, which is 146 percent higher than the national average,” Rep. Graves wrote in an Oct. 27 letter sent to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. “From January to September 2022, law enforcement made more than 3,100 felony arrests in the Baton Rouge area.”
At the same time, intake restrictions at the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab are limiting the ability of law enforcement in the capital region to make charges stick and keep violent criminals off the street, and currently, the lab has a backlog of more than 3,000 cases, according to the congressman’s letter.
Rep. Graves also pointed out that funding for the EBRSO was secured in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022, which was signed into law on March 15 by President Joe Biden and included Community Project Funding for EBRSO to purchase and equip a Rapid DNA test system to mitigate the backlog in evidence processing, he wrote.
Such a system would help the EBRSO improve its situation because while most genetic tests take 24 to 72 hours “in the best conditions,” Rapid DNA can provide accurate and hands-free results from a cheek swab in as little as 90 minutes, wrote the congressman.
“To date, this funding has yet to be awarded to EBRSO,” Rep. Graves wrote. “It is crucial that the Department of Justice execute Congress’s vision and award this funding to EBRSO as soon as possible.”