PUBLICATION ADVISORY

BJS Releases Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories, 2020

The Bureau of Justice Statistics, in the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, today released Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories, 2020. This report presents findings from BJS’s most recent Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories, which collected data for a 2020 reference year.

The report provides data on the workloads, staffing, resources, policies, procedures, and budgets of the 326 standalone forensic labs and multilab systems (totaling 423 individual labs) in 2020. It also includes counts of employees and service requests in 2019.

“Forensic crime laboratories received over 3.3 million requests in 2020, and a third of those requests were for analysis of controlled substances,” said Kevin M. Scott, PhD, acting director of BJS.

About the Bureau of Justice Statistics

The Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice is the principal federal agency responsible for collecting, analyzing and disseminating reliable statistics on crime and criminal justice in the United States. Kevin M. Scott, PhD, is the acting director. More information about BJS and criminal justice statistics can be found at bjs.ojp.gov.
 

About the Office of Justice Programs

The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime; advance equity and fairness in the administration of justice; assist victims; and uphold the rule of law. More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.

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OFFICE: bjs.ojp.gov
CONTACT: OJP Media at ojpmedia@usdoj.gov