SNOHOMISH COUNTY — The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office will resume accepting a grant for Rapid DNA testing kits that can help police more easily discover when suspects they’ve placed in custody are connected to unsolved serious crimes.
In 2023, the sheriff’s office won a grant for $448,000 to initiate a Rapid DNA testing system but it could not follow through with the process of accepting the funds.
“Due to staffing levels in our fiscal department last year, we did not begin the process to accept the grant because it is a heavy lift with a lot of reporting requirements that are unique to grants,” said sheriff’s office spokeswoman Courtney O’Keefe.
O’Keefe added that the sheriff’s office has three more years to accept the funds, and “we fully anticipate doing so.”
The testing kits give quick returns on DNA testing, typically in less than two hours, compared to the several days of current testing. They are portable and can even be used in the field.
This quick turnaround ensures that sheriff’s office meets the goals of the federal Rapid DNA Act of 2017, which calls for DNA testing of arrestees during the booking process. The goal of the DNA Act is to identify arrestees who are wanted in connection with serious crimes, such as rapes and murders, while still in police custody.
After collecting a cheek swab, the system is automated afterward; no human interaction is needed during the process like other tests. You put the sample swab into the machine, and it gives you the data. Plain and simple.
This does not mean that sheriff’s office will turn to only using Rapid DNA. In situations where there is a small sample to work with, other systems will be used. A Rapid DNA test uses a destructive process that does not leave sample evidence for future testing.
“If it is a homicide, for example, we would not use a test that would destroy the only DNA we had,” O’Keefe explained. “If it is a property crime, there may be discussions of using the Rapid test. It just depends.”
The sheriff’s office currently uses the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab for DNA testing. On some rare occasions, they have used private labs that have access to further DNA testing for cases such as homicides.
The Rapid DNA system cannot access CODIS, the nation’s largest DNA database, at the moment; however, O’Keefe said that access is being discussed at the state and federal levels.
