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Ottawa – February 1, 2008 – Today, the RCMP announced the opening of the new National Centre of Forensic Services – Alberta, at its former Edmonton laboratory site.
“This is an important milestone in providing police with better access to forensic laboratory and identification services,” said Peter J. Martin, RCMP Deputy Commissioner of National Police Services. “It is a visible demonstration of our commitment to enhancing service delivery and integrating with our police partners.”
In addition to the current forensic laboratory services in Edmonton, a new Evidence Recovery Unit (ERU) has been added to support increasing police requests for crime scene DNA analysis in the western provinces. The ERU recovers any biological material from crime scene evidence submitted by police investigators. This material can be extracted from clothing, furniture, etc. and sent for DNA analysis. Recovering this biological material is essential to creating a DNA profile that can help police to associate suspects to crime scenes.
The National Centre of Forensic Services –Alberta will also become the site of a new DNA analytical unit which will be fully staffed and functional by Winter, 2009. This will complement the analysis currently performed at the Vancouver and Ottawa laboratory sites and increase the FS&IS capacity to perform DNA analysis of crime scene evidence.
Other initiatives are also in various stages of implementation and will collectively enable FS&IS to meet its commitment to reduce response times for crime scene DNA casework.
“Police rely on the investigative support that National Forensic Services provides”, said Rod Knecht, Deputy Commissioner for the North West Region and Commanding Office of RCMP K Division (Alberta). “The more accessible and timely the services we receive, the better we can investigate and solve crime. I am pleased to see this level of support for police in Alberta.”
A key feature of the new Centre is the integration of the Alberta RCMP forensic identification unit with the forensic laboratory. Although both units have been working collaboratively for some time, locating in the same facility will streamline the flow of evidence and information between the laboratory and the crime scene.
Today’s announcement was marked by speeches from RCMP Chief Superintendent Fred Kamins, acting Commanding Officer K Division (Alberta) and Assistant Commissioner Joe Buckle, Director General of Forensic Science and Identification Services. Staff welcomed the guests for a tour of the new ERU where they saw biological material being extracted from crime scene evidence, and of the forensic identification unit.
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