Improving the Quality of Crime Labs Nationwide 

Ensuring the integrity of the justice system starts with providing accurate forensic analysis. With the increasing dependence on investigative techniques such as DNA analysis and other cutting-edge forensic disciplines, it’s critical that crime laboratories adhere to a stringent quality assurance program. 

To help laboratories achieve ISO/IEC 17025 Accreditation, NFSTC developed a comprehensive toolkit of quality documents and related forms that could be utilized by a laboratory or analytical unit to further the development of their quality system. Through a partnership with the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/ Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB) and Forensic Quality Services (FQS), and a Cooperative Agreement with the National Institute of Justice, these reference documents were distributed at no cost to all public crime laboratories nationwide.

The Quality Documents program contained templates, document examples and reference materials such as a Quality Assurance Manual, Operational Policies and a variety of helpful forms. These documents were created to be easily adaptable for individual laboratories in the development of their quality system. 

In addition, NFSTC distributed a copy of Introduction to Accreditation for Forensic Labs, by Murray Malcolm, MS, and Harold Peel, PhD, along with the Quality Documents CD. This valuable handbook provided plain language explanations of elements of ISO/IEC 17025:2005–General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories.