Van Hollen's Lab Is Cooking

While a certain afternoon RadioMouth continues to disparage the Attorney General, the numbers point to some success for Van Hollen.

The budget passed in 2007 authorized the hiring of 30 more DNA analysts, and the 27 who completed training are now certified to process evidence.

The department said the Crime Lab completed 321 DNA cases in May, more than any other month in the history and more than three times what was being done during an average month in 2006.

The backlog is now nearly 1,640 cases, compared with 1,775 cases at the start of Van Hollen’s term, officials said.

Of course, anyone can cherry-pick numbers like the May performance above. And for CSI-addicts (and RadioMouths), reducing the backlog to Zero in 60-minutes-less-commercials is the only acceptable result.

Adults look at the longer-term results. If Van Hollen's re-working of the lab continues to produce valid results at 3X those of the previous AG, I'll be happy.