In January 2020, the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) awarded more than $145 million in federal grants to fund crime labs, reduce DNA backlogs, support forensic science research, and help identify missing persons. According to OJP Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan, “The Department is committed to improving and investing in forensic science because it plays a vital role in providing indisputable and scientifically-based information that protects our communities. We will continue to fund forensic science advances that enable law enforcement and prosecutors to draw conclusions from physical evidence found at crime scenes.”
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is awarding more than $78 million to help state and local jurisdictions process and analyze backlogged DNA samples, which should help to solve several crimes.
Additionally, the NIJ is awarding more than $18 million to the Research and Development in Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes program, which is responsible for finding and developing fast, cost-effective methods for the analysis of physical evidence.
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), the nationwide database for missing persons, has been awarded $5.5 million to run day-to-day operations and software upgrades to the system. The NIJ is also giving just under $1 million to fund the prosecution of cold cases, with the goal of reducing violent crime cold cases. 15 state and local agencies will share $1.8 million to help conduct forensic death investigations.
To find out more information on all the NIJ programs click here.