Forensic Lab can now determine the ‘father of the child’; other key DNA needs

The Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) Machine which was commissioned

Suspects in crimes can now be linked through relatives

Guyana’s criminal justice and investigative capacities were significantly boosted with the acquisition of two specialized pieces of equipment procured by from Italy at a cost of Four Hundred and Seventy Five Thousand United States Dollars.

The Rapid DNA Testing Machine for human identification and Automated Gunshot Reside Analysis Machine were both commissioned at the Guyana Forensic Science Laboratory on Wednesday by Public Security Minister Khemraj and Inter-Development Bank Chief of Operations Lorena Solorzan.

With the DNA testing machine, the lab will now has three main capabilities and those are, matching evidence to a suspect, paternity and being able to track a suspect by taking samples from the crime scene and matching those to the relatives of the suspect.

The methods which will be used to arrive at these conclusion includes swabbing of the mouth, semen, vaginal, blood, hair and uplifting of prints from surfaces.

These machines now provide law enforcement with an edge as the testing can be done in record time, with multiple samples at once while reducing the overall costs which were previously associated with the exercise.

Guyana in the past would have to book, send and then wait months for the return of samples results which were sent overseas for testing, these often had to do with human remains or body samples. Now, those tests can be done within the pace of hours which would ultimately allow the police to wrap on initial investigations in record time and move closer to the suspects.

Director of the Guyana Forensic Science Laboratory Delon France said that the new improvement are likely to bring more adjudication to criminal cases as time progresses but pointed out that with the advancement, consideration must still be given to proper evidence collection as the latter is equally important to the outcome of results from analysis conducted.

Inter-American Development Bank Chief of Operations Lorena Solorzan stressed that her agency would continue to support the work of the Citizens Security Strengthening Program and the commissioning of the pieces of equipment are a step in that direction.

She however warned that there needs to be a strong link between the investigative capacity of the police, prosecutorial capacity and jury if crimes are to be solved in a timely manner. She also reminded that picking up evidence at a crime scene only places someone at the location but does not prove culpability.

Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan in his remarks as said the investment proves government’s commitment to improving the public safety of our people through adoption of modern technologies.

He also made reference to the ongoing installation of a number of security cameras around the city as part of the Safe City Program where mapping, tapping and monitoring of crime hotspots and movement around the city will be done at an advance level.

The Security Minister cautioned that the two pieces of equipment are ideal since it serves two purposes, ensuring the criminals are caught and ensuring that the wrong persons are not prosecuted for crimes they did not commit.

The gunshot residue machine

Ramjattan noted that the gunshot residue machine will serve to corroborate statements of witnesses also.

The Guyana Police force has over the years confiscated hundreds of firearms both during raids, from the hands of criminal and through other means.

The force has however over the years, hardly come forward to say if many of those weapons were linked to crimes previously committed. This is although they would have rapidly stated that the seized weapons have been sent for ballistic testing.

The two machines could be put into use as early as Friday, according to director of the lab, Delon France.