Nine months after it was filed, council hearing turns to the Boston Police crime lab
Flynn's order on crime lab resources got its hearing Monday. Our records show the lab coming up at least eight times this year, a failed $500,000 budget amendment, and two federal grants passed without objection.
The Boston Police crime lab tests the DNA, firearms and other evidence that criminal cases depend on, including sexual assault kits. On Monday morning, Oct. 26, the City Council's Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee scheduled a hearing on its resources, according to the hearing notice.
The order behind the hearing (docket 0180) was filed by City Councilor Ed Flynn in January and referred to committee on Jan. 28. The committee is chaired by City Councilor Henry Santana. The hearing came nine months after referral.
Advertisement
For residents, the lab matters most to people waiting on results: survivors whose kits are being tested and anyone whose case turns on forensic evidence.
Background
State reviews have flagged problems at the lab before. In 2024, GBH News reported that a state report found the lab tested 93 of 186 sexual assault kits it received in fiscal 2023 outside the state's 30-day window, and that the lab had a rotating cast of interim directors after its leader was placed on leave in August 2022. An earlier council order said $1 million had been reallocated internally for the lab, including $700,000 for more lab technicians and the director vacancy and $300,000 for sexual assault testing equipment.
What our records show
The lab has come up again and again in council meetings this year.
- Jan. 28: The order was referred to committee. Eleven councilors are listed as sponsors; City Councilors Gabriela Coletta Zapata and Henry Santana are not.
- March 12: At a committee hearing, Flynn said Boston does not have a state-of-the-art lab and is not testing sexual assault kits with the most up-to-date technology (watch at 1:08:43). A police lieutenant said the department had sent 150 older kits to an outside lab for retesting with Y-screening, a DNA screening method, and was working to bring that capability in-house (1:09:46).
- May 7: At a budget hearing, Flynn asked Commissioner Michael Cox why the department chose a three-member board of directors to lead the lab rather than a single new leader (watch at 1:03:28). Cox said the lab is nationally accredited and that its last review was "almost exceptional" (1:06:26).
- June 10: During final budget amendments, Flynn proposed moving $500,000 from the Office of Neighborhood Services to crime lab equipment (watch at 5:39:21). City Councilors Enrique Pepén and Sharon Durkan said they opposed cutting that office. The amendment failed 2-11, with only Flynn and City Councilor Erin Murphy voting yes (5:45:47).
- July 8: The council accepted a $24,095 federal forensic science grant, 11-0 (docket 1035). Flynn said the lab "is struggling" (watch at 4:07:42).
- Sept. 23: The council accepted a $288,221 federal DNA capacity and backlog reduction grant, 13-0 (docket 1678). Flynn said he had sought a hearing for a long time and that it had not been scheduled (watch at 3:55:16). Santana said he had not received a request from Flynn's office to schedule it and offered to coordinate (3:56:29).
What's next
Both Monday public safety hearings, this one and the afternoon hearing on deaths in Suffolk County custody (our preview), are listed on Wednesday's council agenda as matters recently heard, which lets the committee report back. Video and a transcript of Monday's hearing will be added to our meetings page once the city posts the recording.