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9105 Northwest 25th Street
Doral, FL 33172-1500 USA
Phone: 305-471-2050
Fax: 305-471-2052
Senior Bureau Commander:
S.L. Stoiloff
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The Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) Crime Laboratory Bureau services the greater unincorporated Dade County area and 35 of the incorporated municipalities which also include the city of Miami and the city of Miami Beach (total population base circa 2.4 million). The full service laboratory facility contains "state of the art" scientific equipment and employs 62 scientists and support staff. The educational level of the scientists range from BS to PhD in the physical or biological sciences. The mission of the laboratory is to provide scientific and technical support to the law enforcement community.
The laboratory is composed of 3 sections: Analytical, Forensic Biology and Forensic Identification.
Analytical Section
The Analytical Section is responsible for analyzing and identifying illicit, controlled, and legend drug materials that are confiscated in Miami-Dade County by local law enforcement officers and federal agents operating within Miami-Dade County.
Controlled and illicit substances are those substances so designated by the legislature of the State of Florida in the Florida State Substantive Laws, Chapter 893. Legend drugs are those substances that, according to State and Federal Law, require a prescription. In all drug cases, it is the primary objective of the Criminalist is to conclusively identify any drug substances in a sample.
The number of drug case submissions to the Crime Laboratory Bureau is greater than all other types of evidence submissions combined averaging over 1,700 submissions per month. The analysis of all drugs submissions must be completed prior to the arraignment, or within 21 days of the arrest and confiscation of the drug material.
The Analytical Section is also responsible for the examination, analysis and comparison of miscellaneous materials that may be transferred during the commission of a crime. A favorable comparison of these materials can show an association between an individual and a crime scene. Examples of types of trace evidence that can be identified and compared are fibers, hairs, glass fragments, paint chips and smears, and a wide variety of miscellaneous materials. Trace evidence can also be used to establish the elements of a crime by identifying certain materials, such as gunshot residues on the hands of individuals suspected of firing a gun, or ignitable liquid residues found at the scene of a suspected arson.
The following websites offer additional information on the testing performed by this section:
Forensic Biology Section
The Forensic Biology Section examines biological materials associated with various types of criminal investigations collected from crime scenes in Miami-Dade County.
This section is currently staffed with 21 full time scientists who identify the type of biological material present, when appropriate, as well as conduct DNA analysis. Over 2500 homicide, sexual assault, robbery and property crime cases are processed by the section each year. In addition, the Forensic Biology Section has made over 1400 DNA matches since 1990 through the use of the DNA database, the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).
Analysts undergo a challenging two-year training program that includes lectures, laboratory exercises and testimony preparation to qualify them as expert witnesses in both serology and DNA testing. Identification of blood, semen and saliva is accomplished with presumptive and confirmatory chemical tests, and DNA profiles are generated by PCR methods (STR) and capillary electrophoresis. Notable success has been obtained from property crime testing that has led to perpetrator identification in 30% of the unsolved cases searched in CODIS.
Several initiatives to increase the speed of evidence testing are underway. Tablet computers linked in a wireless network will interface with electronic document systems to construct a nearly paperless workflow. Robotic instruments that minimize manual processing of DNA samples will shorten the analysis time, while expert system programs will be used to rapidly review the resulting data so that the DNA results can be more quickly reported and searched in CODIS.
The Forensic Biology Section also works with the Crime Scene Investigation Bureau to analyze and interpret bloodstain patterns at complicated crime scenes, and uses Department facilities to conduct training in this specialty field for investigators from MDPD and from police departments worldwide.
The following websites offer additional information on DNA testing:
STRBase
This comprehensive Short Tandem Repeat database for genetic mapping and identity testing, maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, provides a wealth of information regarding the biology and analysis of DNA by STR methods.
DNA.gov
Forensic Identification Section
The Forensic Identification Section of the Laboratory is comprised of three distinct Units. The Central Evidence Reception Facility (CERF) is responsible for the intake, tracking and safe keeping of all the evidence that enters into the Laboratory (approximately 25,000 cases a year). The Firearms Testing Unit is responsible for test firing and computer entry of all routine auto-loading firearms impounded by the Miami-Dade Police Department and other municipalities into the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN). The Firearm and Toolmark Unit analyzes various firearms and ballistic evidence in order to identify which firearms were involved in a shooting. This Unit also performs serial number restorations, shooting distance determinations, toolmark analysis and shoe and tire track impression analysis. The Firearm and Toolmark Unit houses an exceptional firearms reference collection with over 3,000 weapons.
Both the NIBIN Firearms Testing Unit and the Firearm and Toolmark Unit participate in NIBIN, a computer imaging system owned by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, that allows the firearm and toolmark examiner to link same gun cases together. Evidence casings are imaged into the NIBIN system and are searched against the database for matches. Every auto-loading firearm confiscated in Miami-Dade County is test fired and searched against all of the images in the NIBIN system
The Firearm and Toolmark Examiner Trainee undergoes an intensive two-year (24-month) training course designed to provide the background to become a court qualified Firearm and Toolmark Examiner. This training will enable the trainee to make determinations and give court testimony concerning physical evidence related to forensic investigations involving firearms and toolmarks. This training consists of reading selected literature, formal lectures, attendance at training seminars, related factory visits, research, observation, supervised completion of actual casework with critical review, and visitation to other laboratories to compare methodology and instrumentation. Learning is measured using practical exercises, written examinations and the successful completion of at least one mock trial.
For an introduction to Forensic Firearm Identification and to perform virtual comparisons, click on this link: http://www.firearmsid.com/new_index.htm
Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE)
International Association for Property and Evidence (IAPE)
Footwear and Tire Track Impression Evidence
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives National Integrated Ballistic Network
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