Renovation at State Crime Lab in Raleigh expected to bring courts more efficient results

A new renovation opened Wednesday at the State Crime Lab in Raleigh aimed at helping to get criminals more quickly off the streets.

Inside the lab at 121 East Tryon Road in Raleigh, scientists are testing evidence, blood and urine samples from across the state for drugs and alcohol. The new renovation means space for more scientists at the lab.

It’s part of a new design for the Drug, Chemistry and Toxicology wing. It has more space and seeks to improve workflow.

“We moved to a cubicle format for offices, which doubled our abilities as far as hires, analysts for the case work, and we moved to a more lean layout for the laboratory space,” said crime laboratory assistant director Amanda Thompson.

“The architecture allows for more rational flow of the evidence,” Attorney General Josh Stein said. “So, you're not wasting time going from one office, going to the other side of the office, to back.”

Special Deputy Attorney General Boz Zellinger said one of the big worries in a courthouse is a backlog of cases.

Zellinger explained that the ability to work more efficiently in the lab means court cases will move more swiftly, getting criminals off the streets, faster.

“You don't want to have a situation where you are waiting on information from a lab to be able to prove your case,” Zellinger said. “So, with this space and with additional people that work at the lab and the additional science that’s done here, cases come back quicker and that helps us clear court dockets, effectively prosecute people faster and ensure that the public is kept safe.”

This unit in the crime lab has the highest workload. In fiscal year 2021, three-quarters of all evidence was handled by the drug and toxicology scientists. The work performed in this wing is especially critical, with the fentanyl crisis facing North Carolian.

“Here in NC, we lose eight people every day to a fentanyl overdose,” Stein said. “Our scientists will be able to test evidence swiftly and provide law enforcement with the analysis they need to get dangerous drug traffickers off of our streets.”

Prior to this renovation, the lab space was roughly 30 years old. The funding to do the renovations - about $5 million - came from the state legislature.