Investigating suspects made harder by forensic lab delays: police in B.C.

With public safety top of mind for so many people, and a key topic in the recent civic election, we’re finding out how lengthy delays at forensic labs are hindering the ability of officers to catch criminals.

The labs are operated by the RCMP, and it has been confirmed to CityNews that current processing wait times are months-long and timelines can be pushed back repeatedly, meaning it can take even longer for police to get the proof they need. The Union of Safety and Justice Employees, which represents some unionized lab workers, blames a staffing crunch for the hold-up.

Investigators having to wait months, a year, or even longer to get results opens up space for suspects to either continue offending or escalate their crimes.

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“Why that’s an issue is often we may not get results from the lab for many months, which may point us to a certain person as the suspect, and if we’re not getting to that person in a timely fashion, perishable evidence related to that person and their activities, perhaps on the night in question or around the crime… can really result, in the investigative phase, in us losing what we call perishable evidence, which is critical,” explains Vancouver Police Department Supt. Lisa Byrne, who’s in charge of the department’s investigative services.

Perishable evidence includes things like fingerprints, DNA that’s discovered at a different scene at a later date, or video surveillance, which is often overridden after three months.

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Byrne oversees both proactive and reactive police work at VPD. Proactive can include identifying those who could be involved in a gang shooting, while reactive is investigating a murder.

“This is how the process works. Your initial submission to the lab, say for an unidentified offender, you might be looking at a very basic average of about 120 days right now before you get any information back and that initial submission will be very limited to a select few samples,” she explained. “You may collect 100 samples in your initial investigation, but you may only be able to enter four-to-seven of them and it’s always a negotiation as to which ones will be entered, and often, one of the primary ones is the victim’s DNA. Then you wait your 120 days, you hope you get a result and if you get nothing back, then you go to your next seven exhibits and that keeps going and usually, there’s 120 or so days delay in between, so you can think maybe by your third, fourth or fifth submissions, that’s where we get the hit that identifies the suspects but now that’s two years into your investigation.”

Byrne says things are just as complicated when they know who the suspect is and they’re trying to track DNA evidence for charge approval from Crown Counsel.

“In those cases, we will pay to go to a private lab because we cannot wait. We’re trying to mitigate public safety and we cannot wait for the federal labs to come through. The problem with going to the private labs is that sample is not uploaded into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). So, we may have our offender, we know who he is, it’s isolated to our case and we get a charge approval, but say that offender has done 12 other offences across Canada but we’re not able to match that offender’s DNA, as such a time as they’re convicted and then they get a DNA order based on their conviction and then it can be uploaded, but if they never get a conviction, that won’t happen.”

Byrne maintains the delays with the labs have a trickle-down effect and feels the public may not realize how much it’s affecting what police do.

Imagine an officer has a case that’s 90 per cent complete and they need that piece of evidence, or it’s 10 per cent complete and they can’t move it forward without lab results — either way, it’s problematic.

“I think the biggest frustration for members is the ‘CSI effect’ and the public’s lack of understanding. They watch a show, like CSI, and within an episode, everything happens… but in reality, that just doesn’t happen, even in practically I don’t think that’s possible — I don’t think the science moves that fast. That’s frustrating to meet the expectations of the public and the victim’s and having to explain that over and over again.”

“We’re trying to mitigate public safety and we cannot wait for the federal labs to come through.”

Byrne says without the proof to nab a suspect but having to maintain public safety, resources are then tied up doing surveillance around the clock to keep an eye on the person they’re hoping to catch.

She explains once they’re able to get what they need, it’s key to keep the lines of communication open to Crown Counsel to get charges approved as soon as possible.

“It’s a two-way street. The police and Crown have the responsibility to ensure the disclosure is complete. It is true, however, that the Crown will often not approve charges unless they have everything. I get both sides of it. From the public safety side it becomes very difficult for us to mitigate, but from their side, it gets very difficult to prosecute if you don’t have all of the information available.”

Byrne admits it has become increasingly more difficult to prosecute.

“The evidence to convict on a homicide in 2000, versus 2010, versus today has increased exponentially. The DNA, when I was a homicide detective, if you had a homicide with a public safety risk, you were getting that DNA in 20 days back in 2010. It’s just the volume has increased to the point where the courts are demanding so much and the legislation in the Criminal Code has not necessarily kept up with the realities of technology or the expectations in the case law that the courts are expecting us to show up with the evidence. Perhaps legislative changes I think is probably the best way to end the vicious cycle.”

She adds that years ago, downloading information from a flip phone involved a few text messages, the call history, and contacts. Now, it’s exhaustive and thanks to smartphone technology and encryption, it can take as long as two years.

“I think as technology progresses, we can reasonably expect the amount of evidence that’s expected from us will increase and the detail in the amount of evidence, whether it’s toxicology, firearms, the electronic stuff or DNA — it’s all going to increase.”

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Byrne is calling for changes to legislation to include and revolve around digital data to help stave off playing catch-up when trying to prevent a possible crime.

“When we talk about searching a device such as a computer or a phone, I would argue there is no more complicated search than that, and the provisions in the Criminal Code don’t often take into account the complexity of those searches. What I’d like to see there is changes in Sect. 490 [of the Criminal Code] … to revolve around more abstract concepts, such as digital data and the retention period of 90 days,” she said. “That’s a big issue because you have to file that initial extension for that property, pursuant to the current laws within 90 days, well, a lot of our analysis is not even starting with 90 days. We then have to go to the judge and apply for an extension for up to one year and try to explain and educate the Crown, the judiciary, defence counsel and actually make a case for why it’s taking that long.”

She does say the labs are really good at getting results back for crimes like sexual assaults, but there are worries about offences not considered a high priority.

“My concern with the lower-level groping is it may not receive that high-end treatment. [If] that low-level groper… progresses to that high-end stranger attack situation, so again, proactively are we able to get ahead of the issue with the delays that we have?”

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Byrne also highlights residential break and enters as a crime that’s so invasive yet takes a really long time to solve due to lab delays.

“I can’t think of a more devastating crime for an average citizen than to have their dwelling violated and broken into, although that specific offence is a primary designated offence… it’s not always at the top of the priority list. Obviously, the homicides, the sex offenders [are,] so we’re not going to get a timely return on that if it’s accepted at all as an exhibit. Those are the kinds of offences that do tend to fall by the wayside.”

She stresses any crime that involves an imminent threat to the public is generally moved along quickly by forensic labs.

Overall, Byrne says when needed they will go to a private lab, so they don’t lose time investigating a crime. She says it’s not “cost-prohibitive,” and the results can come back as quickly, sometimes in just 48 hours.

Byrne says the lag in getting lab results is taxing on investigators but especially difficult for victims and their families who just want closure.

This story is part of a multi-part series CityNews Vancouver is airing this week. Check back Wednesday for more and listen to the CityNews 1130 Morning Show.