LOS ANGELES — This week, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced plans to conduct a comprehensive retesting of 4,000 DNA samples and initiate an internal review following revelations that potentially faulty test kits were used over an eight-month period.
The issue arose after it was discovered that certain test kits, utilized by the department from July to February for various criminal investigations, were flagged by the manufacturer. In a letter sent in August, the manufacturer cautioned against continued use of these kits due to their susceptibility to producing incomplete results. However, this warning went unheeded after it was received by a civilian employee, who neither discarded the kits nor returned them, as per the department’s statement.
The oversight came to light when a supervisor at the department’s Scientific Services Bureau finally came across the manufacturer’s warning letter on Monday. This triggered immediate actions, including the decision to retest the 4,000 DNA samples that might have been compromised by the defective kits.
“We prioritize the integrity of our criminal investigations and the trustworthiness of forensic testing,” stated Sheriff Robert Luna. “Our department is diligently working to evaluate the impact and to institute measures to prevent reoccurrences of such incidents.”
The Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman commented that his office is actively collaborating with the sheriff’s department to assess the extent of the issue and its potential implications on past cases.
While officials acknowledge the tests might have yielded incomplete results, they assured the public that the flawed kits were “not likely to have falsely identified any individual.” The sheriff’s department, however, opted not to disclose the name of the manufacturer in question.