Lack of qualified forensic staff delays course of justice

By BRIDGET CARTER

Police are now waiting up to a year for forensic evidence to prove methamphetamine-related crime because there are not enough scientists.

Forensic staff are working 15-hour days and weekends for Environmental Science and Research to keep up with the growing number of methamphetamine cases being thrown at them by police.

The backlog has jumped from 75 to about 100 in three months, adding to the 996 burglary samples still awaiting ESR testing.

The Vice-president of the Police Association, Richard Middleton, said he was concerned that methamphetamine charges would be dismissed if the wait continued.

"It is disappointing when police gather evidence and it can't be analysed because of a lack of resources. That is not justice."

The delays at the ESR come after police found 147 methamphetamine laboratories last year, three times the number found in 2001.

This year, 80 laboratories have been discovered.

ESR forensic general manager Wayne Chisnall said growing caseloads had meant there was constant demand for more qualified staff.

"The rate of these labs has been increasing year upon year," he said.

"We are working right on the limit at the moment in terms of what we are able to do."

Mr Chisnall said the ESR needed another three forensic scientists and one technician.

With current staff levels, there was a wait for a case lasting a year.

A masters of science in chemistry was needed to work in the field. Some scientists were being recruited from overseas to solve the backlog problems that had been around for the last two years. Others were being trained, but the training took time.

Detective Sergeant Dennis Murphy, of Rotorua, said methamphetamine cases in his area were being held up for several months because of delays in obtaining forensic evidence. In his region, two laboratories were found a month.

Police needed the forensic samples to prove that a substance was methamphetamine.

Auckland District Law Society convenor Richard Earwaker said the delays for evidence could create situations where people had a long wait in custody for their case to reach court.

In those cases, a judge might agree to throw the charges out of court for reasons of human rights.

He said police were dealing with the problem by placing priority cases higher in the queue.

But that pushed other cases further down the list.

"More and more important cases are getting slowed."


Forensic backlog

ESR has about 100 methamphetamine cases to deal with for police.

Without extra staff, the wait to clear the backlog could be one year.

Police fear the delays could lead to cases getting thrown out of court if the forensic evidence does not arrive in time.