Accreditations
ISO 17025 Accreditation Certificate
DNA Labs International is accredited by Forensic Quality Services - International (FQS-I), the country’s longest established provider of ISO accreditation to Forensic Sciences testing laboratories in the US. The FQS-I inspects U.S. laboratories for adherence to standards set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the DNA Advisory Board (established by the Director of the FBI).
DNA Labs International complies with the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025:2005 and Forensic Requirements for Accreditation (FRA 1 and FRA 2).
Laboratory Accreditation: 1
- Provides formal recognition to laboratories that demonstrate technical competency
- Maintains this recognition through periodic evaluations to ensure continued compliance with requirements;
- Provides laboratories with the opportunity to determine whether work is performed correctly and to appropriate standards;
- Identifies areas for improvement through discussion and detailed reporting;
- Monitors areas for improvement through follow-up action
The Texas Department of Public Safety is an agency of this state created to provide public safety services to those people in the state of Texas by enforcing laws, administering regulatory programs, managing records, educating the public, and managing emergencies, both directly and through interaction with other agencies.
This accreditation is a requirement for the admission of the forensic analysis of physical evidence and expert testimony relating to the evidence in a criminal case in the state of Texas3
FDLE DNA Pilot Project
For evidence to be eligible to be uploaded into the FBI national DNA database through CODIS, ISO 17025 Standards for Forensic DNA Testing Laboratories are required. To date only State Laboratories can directly enter evidence into CODIS.
Yet programs such as the FDLE DNA Pilot Project, initiated by FDLE in order to continue providing local law enforcement with the best service possible, give pre-approved participating law enforcement agencies the option to submit evidence (at their own expense) directly to pre-authorized private laboratories for analysis and have the DNA profiles generated from their analysis submitted to FDLE to be entered into state and national databases by FDLE.
Effective July 1, 2009:
Per STANDARD 17.2 Except as provided in Standard 17.2.1, an NDIS participating laboratory’s technical leader shall document approval of the technical specifications of the outsourcing agreement with a vendor laboratory before it is awarded. Such documentation shall be maintained by the NDIS participating laboratory.
17.2.1 A vendor laboratory that is performing forensic DNA analysis for a law enforcement agency or other entity and generating DNA data that may be entered into or searched in CODIS shall not initiate analysis for a specific case or set of cases until documented approval has been obtained from the appropriate NDIS participating laboratory’s technical leader of acceptance of ownership of the DNA data.
CODIS, the FBI Laboratory's Combined DNA Index System combines forensic science and computer technology into a tool for solving violent crimes. CODIS enables federal, state, and local crime labs to exchange and compare DNA profiles electronically, linking crimes to each other and to convicted offenders.
CODIS is implemented as a distributed database with three hierarchical levels (or tiers) - local, state, and national. NDIS is the highest level in the CODIS hierarchy, and enables the laboratories participating in the CODIS Program to exchange and compare DNA profiles on a national level.
As of January 2009 the profile composition of the National DNA Index System (NDIS) is as follows:
Total number of offender profiles: 6,625,752
Total Forensic profiles: 252,338
For more information on CODIS please visit http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/codis/clickmap.htm
1 Source: Forensic Quality Services
2 Source: www.fbi.gov
3 Source: http://www.txdps.state.tx.us