King County Sheriff invests in new tech to get DNA results quicker

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SEATTLE - The King County Sheriff’s Office is investing in new DNA technology to speed up the crime solving process.

The Washington State Patrol Crime Lab processes thousands of DNA samples every year. According to officials with WSP, about 12,584 forensic DNA samples from case work and 6,300 DNA database samples are processed every year.

With new technology, the King County Sheriff’s Office is hoping to cut down on the time and cost to get DNA samples tested.

"Before we had this technology, it [DNA samples] would have to go to the state crime lab," said Captain Chris Leyba with the King County Sheriff’s Office. "Prior to this, we would have to collect all that evidence, and send it over there and ultimately, it would take a couple weeks to a several months."

Streamlining the investigation process

Dig deeper:

The sheriff’s office has invested in a Rapid DNA machine. The machine can test DNA evidence from a scene and confirm if it is a "presumptive positive" or not a match within about 90 minutes.

The way the machine works is a detective places DNA evidence into a cartridge and then inserts that cartridge into the rapid testing machine.

The user then inputs the specific case number for the evidence, and the rest of the process is automated, providing results within an hour and a half.

This new tech cuts down on the cost and time it takes to investigate cases, said Leyba.

"Instead of a thousand samples, we only send 100. That’s thousands of dollars of taxpayer dollars that we’re not putting out to rule bad evidence out."

The machine cost $230,000 and was entirely paid for by federal grant dollars.

What's next:

The county is planning to use the remaining grant dollars to purchase a second machine. Leyba tells FOX 13 Seattle that multiple rapid test machines will help get results quicker, depending on where an incident happens within the jurisdiction of King County.

The machine is still in the testing phase, but Leyba tells FOX 13 Seattle the plan is to incorporate the new tech into lower-level felony investigations within the next few weeks.

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