NCJ Number
83065
Date Published
1974
Length
77 pages
Annotation
The use of performance measures for evaluating the adequacy of resources, services, and quality in the operations of crime laboratories is presented for laboratory managers. The data to collect, their analyses to answer specific questions, and use of a scoring system developed to be an operationally specific index are discussed.
Abstract
Most of the data needed to evaluate performance can be captured in a sequentially numbered caselog for recording crime type, kind of evidence, time expended by lab, outcome and report, and other critical information. The log can be used as a source of these basic laboratory workload throughput statistics: (1) cases received, (2) cases completed, (3) cases in backlog, and (4) cases deferred in any given time period. Other useful performance measures that can be constructed with the data are (1) workload vs. crime type, functional area, evidence type, and outcome; (2) time expended vs. crime type, functional area, evidence type; (3) time expended per case; (4) average response time; (5) personnel time distributions; (6) cost per case; and (7) cross-laboratory comparisons regarding workloads and demographic factors of the areas served. The scoring system to obtain a crime laboratory performance index rating and functional area rating allows laboratory managers to score the items involved in rating resources and service production, obtain an average index number, and multiply by the security and quality factors to obtain a final rating. Results are recorded on a master scoring sheet to use in obtaining the analysis profile. Scoring instructions and worksheet samples are provided, along with an example of profile analyses application.