It’s More Complex than You Think:A Chief’s Guide to DNA
"The U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) are pleased to issue this law enforcement executives’ guide to the use of DNA evidence in criminal investigations.

Every day, DNA evidence becomes more useful, not only in the identification and prosecution of criminal offenders, but also in ruling out innocent persons and in some cases exonerating persons who have been falsely convicted. Once a tool used mainly in cases of homicide, sexual assault, and other violent crimes, DNA increasingly is being used in the investigation of property crimes as well.

Furthermore, scientists continue to make advances in the technology of DNA testing, allowing useful information to be produced even in cases where DNA samples from crime scenes are extremely small or degraded.

However, the rapid expansion in the use of forensic DNA has come at a price: large backlogs of evidence wait to be tested in many jurisdictions.

This book is a practical guide that aims to help police chiefs and other law enforcement executives manage their DNA testing needs and capabilities, as they look forward to ever-increasing demand for DNA evidence in coming years. With support from the COPS Office, PERF
gathered information for this book by interviewing police chiefs, crime lab directors, and other experts in this field; conducting site visits to DNA labs; surveying law enforcement agencies; and holding an Executive Session in September 2009 to discuss the challenges facing police
executives regarding DNA evidence..."