Whereas the RCMP are tasked to preserve and organize information and evidence collected in the course of their investigation, in consideration of the Crowns obligation to disclose and in recognition of the benefits of early disclosure; And whereas in accordance with the Crown Counsel Act, Crown Counsel is required to examine all relevant information and documents and, following the examination, to approve for prosecution any offence or offences that he or she considers appropriate; And whereas the demand for, and backlog of, biological and other forensic service at the National Forensic Lab Services negatively impacts the efficiency and effectiveness of an investigation and ability to proceed with the laying of charges: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM petition the provincial and federal governments to increase working capacity within the National Forensic Lab Services for the provision of forensic services in biology, firearms, toxicology, and trace evidence in order to better meet the necessary timelines of RCMP investigations across Canada.
Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General The Ministry shares the concerns of municipalities that high costs and lengthy delays are not acceptable. It is important to the Ministry that British Columbias police and law enforcement have the tools and resources to ensure our public safety through the effective conduct of investigations and the laying of charges. The capacity of the National Forensic Lab Services is within the federal control, and this is an issue with impacts felt nation-wide. Along with other Provinces and Territories, British Columbia works through the national RCMP Contract Management Committee to advocate with the federal government regarding policing issues impacting British Columbians. Additionally, the Province participates in regular meetings specific to costs and service delivery for DNA forensic analysis through the FPT DNA Working Group. The ministry will continue to advocate through these venues on issues of national concern, such as the capacity of National Forensics Lab Services. Municipalities are also encouraged to raise their concerns with the federal government by writing to the Federal Minister, as UBCM has done in the past.
RCMP The RCMP NFLS has continued operations throughout the pandemic, and while there were implications for operations in 2020 that impacted caseload backlogs, all three sites have been operating at 100 capacity since early 2021. The upward trajectory for forensic services pre-pandemic was strong and sustained. Quantitatively, the period between fiscal years 2016-2017 to 2018-2019 were represented by a 9, 25 and 41 increase in service for toxicology, biology and firearms disciplines, respectively. These significant increases affected the ability of the program to provide timely results and court support to all clients. NFLS continues to adapt to the various disruptions and re-alignments due to the COVID-19 environment e.g., supply chain issues, support of technical services delivered by contractors, and process delays. Mitigation and modernization efforts are underway to increase efficiencies, maximize resources, and leverage available technology. For example, in toxicology, a modernization initiative due to be fully operational in the fall of 2022 will increase efficiencies in process workflow. In addition, the dedicated work of the toxicology team has the NFLS moving steadily towards the opening of two lines for the processing of drug-impaired driving cases in the spring of 2022. Efforts to add new services to the biology discipline are ongoing e.g., adopting probabilistic genotyping software, assessing phenotypingbiogeographical ancestry, incorporating Rapid DNA processes. Other administrative mitigation measures, such as providing most court testimony virtually, have also provided marginal benefits to the operations of the program. Despite these mitigation measures, the ability to manage the increased demand will continue to be challenging without additional resources.