BEAVER COUNTY, Pa. — Crime happens every day from a home break-in, a stolen car or a sexual assault. The problem in solving those crimes in Beaver County is a lack of technology.
“Everyone watches TV and it takes 30 seconds to run upstairs in the DNA lab … for us, it takes six to nine months to get a DNA result,” said Dave Lozier, Beaver County’s district attorney.
Lozier told Channel 11 that the holdup is leading to cases going cold or dismissals because investigations take too long, but there is a machine that can cut that wait time to just two hours.
“You have counties out East that have seen an 80% increase in the solve rate of property crimes — that’s substantial,” Lozier said.
Lozier has seen the rapid DNA machine work in Bucks County and is working with Congressman Conor Lamb to get the $576,880 it will take to get one.
“Think of a violent sex crime. It would make our cases easier and help an accused defendant and a victim if we can identify or clear that perpetrator faster,” Lozier said.
Lozier has the support of 10 district attorneys in Western Pennsylvania to get this machine, which would be placed at the Beaver County Jail but used regionwide.
“If we can use that among multiple jurisdictions, multiple counties and multiple police departments, we have a better chance of solving those more widespread property crimes,” Lozier said.
The goal is to prove the machine works like it does in Bucks County and secure more dollars to purchase more machines for other Western Pennsylvania counties to create a shared database, but now it’s just a waiting game.
“The appropriations committee has to approve these for the next step to happen for it to be included in the annual reconciliation bill at the end of the year. We are looking at next year at the earliest,” Lozier said.
Allegheny County recently purchased one of the rapid DNA machines for its crime lab, but Lozier said it’s not in use yet as technicians are still being trained.
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