'Serious concerns:' DC crime lab faces new crisis after entire Advisory Board resigns

WASHINGTON (7News) — The troubled D.C. crime lab is back in the spotlight just months after gaining partial accreditation two years after it was revoked over concerns of mishandling evidence.

In December, the crime lab got two units reaccredited, allowing them to once again conduct DNA and drug testing.

Now, whistleblowers say the entire advisory board has resigned.

Council member Robert White told 7News that every member of the entire Science Advisory Board resigned after he said they raised concerns and saw serious issues inside the troubled crime lab.

“The entire advisory board has resigned and that is incredibly concerning because this is a time when we are trying to rebuild the trust of the public," said White. "But, more importantly trying to rebuild confidence of the prosecutors who need the evidence from the crime lab in order to prosecute people who have committed violent crimes."

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White introduced the Whole Government Response to Crime Act of 2023, which addresses multiple public safety issues - including requiring the mayor to collect and publish firearm tracing data, requiring the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement to study the effectiveness of violence reduction programs, establishing a Victim Services Coordinator within the Office of Victim Services, and creating a 911 System Improvement Task Force to study the effectiveness of the Office of Unified Communications 911 system.

“These broken parts of our public safety ecosystem are leading to lack of accountability and more crime in our city,” said White.

The councilmember said his bill is also meant to address the lab including financial incentives, recruiting tools and employee performance reports.

"This comes down to a serious public safety issue. if prosecutors don’t have confidence in processing evidence at our crime lab, that limits the number of prosecutions which limits the amount of accountability. this results in a very real public safety issue,” said White.