Quality Policy Statement
The primary goal of the Division of Scientific Services (DSS) is to provide high quality, forensically defensible analytical services to our customers. As such the Division is accredited by the ANSI National Accreditation Board to the requirements of the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 in the field of Forensic Testing. The Division Mission Statement emphasizes the importance of servicing customer needs and requirements.
It is the on-going policy of the Division of Scientific Services to provide services that meet our specifications and comply with the ANAB AR3125, ISO/IEC 17025, the FBI DNA QAS and the ATF MROS requirements while meeting or exceeding the expectations of the criminal justice community.
The Quality Assurance program of the Division of Scientific Services is a comprehensive program designed to ensure the delivery of reliable forensic services to the Connecticut and Federal criminal justice systems. To this end, the Management of the Division of Scientific Services is committed to supporting a division wide “Quality Policy” as detailed below.
The Division of Scientific Services will demonstrate professional practice by providing:
- A system to evaluate and demonstrate the technical competency of all analytical employees, ensuring only forensically defensible results are reported.
- A Standard of Service of forensic analysis and support that is unbiased, scientifically sound, consistent with current accepted Division standards, and may be relied upon by all aspects of the Criminal Justice system.
- A system for the review of all cases to ensure adherence to laboratory policy.
- A system for procedural development, modification and validation.
- A comprehensive system of quality control, such that all analyses and analytical batches may be individually evaluated for procedural function.
- A system for monitoring courtroom testimony of Division employees.
- A system to deal with problems or discrepancies which may occur during the handling of case materials, evidence analysis, or reporting of results.
- A comprehensive system of reagent and standard validation, such that the analyst has a maximal expectation of procedural function and accuracy.
- A Management System that works to support and enhance the quality system of the Division.
- A mechanism for the continuous review of the Management System, with a goal of improvement of the overall effectiveness of the system, thereby enhancing the overall quality of analyses performed and overall customer satisfaction.
- A system which ensures that analytical personnel are familiar with the quality manual and with the quality procedures that are required for the work they perform.
- A system of internal and external audits to ensure adherence to:
- ANAB AR3125 Forensic Science Testing and Calibration Laboratories Accreditation Requirements.
- International Standard ISO/IEC 17025:2017.
- ANAB Guiding Principles of Professional Responsibility for Forensic Service Providers and Forensic Personnel.
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Quality Assurance Standards (QAS) for Forensic DNA Testing Laboratories and DNA Databasing Laboratories (2011).
- ATF Minimum Required Operating Standards (MROS) Audit for National Integrated Ballistic Information Network Sites (2018).
- DSS Laboratory Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), as applicable.