The FBI Laboratory’s Federal DNA Database Unit (FDDU) exists to intake and process DNA samples from U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) agencies and other federal law enforcement agencies. It generates genetic profiles from these samples, quality checks these profiles, and adds them to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).
Typically the FDDU received some 100,000 samples to process annually. A federal regulation change some five years ago caused the number of samples to surge. This eventually caused a backlog of well over 1.8 million samples by the end of the Biden administration.
Apparently the Biden administration and Christopher Wray did not see this backlog as particularly concerning. One can only speculate why this might have been so.
Enter the Trump administration and people who understand how to do things efficiently. A team of laboratory, data-management, and biometric examination experts used a combination of administrative and financial prowess, strategic cross-training, and innovation to resolve a years-long DNA-processing backlog. The backlog was evaporated shrinking from an all-time high of about 1.81 million samples to zero in August of this year.
FDDU accomplished this by optimizing its workflow.
First and foremost, sample intake was prioritized since that tasking proved to be its most difficult, manual, and time-intensive. It enhanced its information technology systems to speed processes and added the maximum number of new computer stations its space could hold.
It increased its intake processing for DHS-provided samples by pulling in data from electronic forms instead of manually entering information from physical paperwork.
Technology played a factor as the FDDU has begun to implement rapid DNA technology, which essentially shrinks the timeline and physical footprint involved in DNA processing. It is also a more portable process allowing the FDDU to deploy to support FBI field operations across the United States.
As we have seen recently with America.gov, this administration is dedicated to making the government work better for the people.
This is another win for the American people.