Boston police skip council hearing on crime lab; Flynn turns to state and federal officials
No one from the city testified at Monday's hearing on the lab that tests sexual assault kits. Councilors called the absence disrespectful, and the committee chair said he would schedule another hearing.
The City Council finally held its hearing on the Boston Police crime lab on Monday, Oct. 26, nine months after the order was filed. The department did not come.
No Boston Police representatives attended the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee hearing on the lab's resources and sexual assault kit testing, the Daily Free Press reported. City Councilor Ed Flynn, who filed the order, said councilors learned the department would be absent less than 20 minutes before the hearing began, according to the paper. The Boston Policy Notes newsletter reported that the department emailed to say it would not attend and that the Mayor's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs also did not appear.
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For residents, the lab matters most to people waiting on results: survivors whose kits are being tested, and anyone whose criminal case depends on forensic evidence. We previewed the hearing on Monday.
What was said
Flynn said it was "disappointing to survivors of sexual assault" not to have a department representative there, the Daily Free Press reported. City Councilor Erin Murphy called the absence disrespectful to the council and said it sent the public a message that the administration was "laughing at" the council, according to the paper. Committee chair Henry Santana said he was willing to schedule another hearing the department could attend.
Flynn said he wants answers on the lab's funding and progress before the next budget, and that the lab will be a major focus for him in that process, the paper reported. Boston Policy Notes reported that he plans another letter to the state's forensic science oversight board and may ask the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts to look into the lab.
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The Daily Free Press article did not include a response from the department.
The numbers on testing
State law since 2018 requires police labs to test sexual assault kits within 30 days. In fiscal 2023, the Boston lab received 186 kits and 93 were not tested within that window, according to figures the Daily Free Press attributed to WBUR. A state public safety report for 2025 says the lab received 160 kits; three did not qualify and the rest were tested within 30 days, the paper reported. The lab has not had a permanent director since its last director went on paid leave in 2022, according to Boston Policy Notes.
What our records show
- The order. Flynn's order (docket 0180) was filed in January and referred on Jan. 28. The hearing was the first on it. The city has not posted video of Monday's hearing on our site.
- Budget votes. On June 10, Flynn proposed moving $500,000 from the Office of Neighborhood Services to lab equipment. It failed 2-11, with only Flynn and Murphy voting yes (our earlier story has the record).
- Grants. The council has accepted lab money without opposition this year: a $24,095 federal forensic science grant in July, 11-0 (docket 1035), and a $288,221 federal DNA capacity and backlog reduction grant in September, 13-0 (docket 1678).
- Same day, same result. That afternoon, the same committee held a hearing on deaths at the Suffolk County House of Correction, and the sheriff's office did not testify either (our story).
What's next
The order is listed on today's council agenda among matters recently heard (meeting page). Hearing orders usually stay in committee after a hearing, and Santana would have to schedule a second session for the department to testify. Budget hearings for fiscal 2028 begin in the spring, when the police budget, including the lab, comes before the Ways and Means Committee.