Lubbock crime lab to give tours for National Forensic Science Week

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - The Lubbock DPS Crime Lab team is offering tours of their facilities to celebrate National Forensic Science Week.

The Texas Department of Public Safety is recognizing those who work in the 16 DPS crime labs across the state, including Lubbock.

The lab will be open to tours on Sept. 22. A crime lab representative stated several schools will be touring the lab Thursday morning, but it should be open to others interested in touring after 1 p.m.

Texas’ crime labs accomplished much over the past year, including:

• Providing developments in around 600 unsolved cases through crime lab testing. House Bill 1399 requires those arrested for certain felonies to give DNA samples. Those samples are run through the Combines DNA Index System (CODIS) Laboratory in Austin. Then, they are entered into another database to check for possible matches to DNA in unsolved cases.
• The average turnaround time for sexual assault kits was reduced to under 90 days. Victims can also anonymously track and receive updates on the status of the evidence through the DPS tracking program.
• DPS also started testing a backlog of older sexual assault kits that had not been sent to a crime lab.
• The DPS resumed testing THC content in liquids and oils after a pause after the 2019 Texas Hemp Act was passed.
• The turnaround for the analysis of blood alcohol content in DUI cases averaged at or below 30 days.

National Forensic Science Week lasts from Sept. 18 to Sept. 24.

The 16 labs across the state and their tour dates are as follows:

North Texas Region

• Garland – Thursday 9/22
• Tyler – Wednesday 9/21

Southeast Texas Region

• Houston – Thursday 9/22

South Texas Region

• Corpus Christi – Tuesday 9/20
• Laredo – Monday 9/19
• Weslaco – Wednesday 9/21

West Texas Region

• El Paso – Friday 9/23

Northwest Texas Region

• Abilene – Thursday 9/22
• Amarillo – Tuesday 9/20
• Lubbock – Thursday 9/22

Central Texas Region

• Austin – Tuesday 9/20
• Waco – Monday 9/19

For more information on Lubbock’s crime lab, please call (806)740-8900 or email LubbockCrimeLab@dps.texas.gov. The lab is located at 1401 Lubbock Business Park Blvd. St. 200.

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