California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Forensic Services (BFS) Toxicology Program has received a $3 million grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS). The funding is intended to improve toxicology testing for drug-impaired driving across the state.
According to Attorney General Bonta, “I am very proud of the important work carried out by our Bureau of Forensic Services. This ongoing work will be bolstered thanks to a $3 million grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety. As a part of its critical work, our Bureau of Forensic Services provides high-quality and affordable forensic toxicology services to counties all over California that do not have their own laboratories. The California Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that no matter where you live in California, everyone has equal access to forensic services in the justice system. We thank the Office of Traffic Safety for buoying this commitment.”
The BFS serves as the scientific division within the Attorney General’s Office, providing analysis and comparison of physical evidence from suspected crimes throughout California. Its responsibilities include examining evidence related to alcohol and controlled substances, DNA analysis, firearms examination, impression evidence such as shoeprints and tire marks, trace evidence like hair and fibers, and crime scene blood spatter analysis. Forensic scientists from BFS also testify in both state and federal courts regarding their findings.
Established in 1972, BFS was created to assist local law enforcement agencies without their own crime laboratory services. Today, it operates 10 regional laboratories located in Eureka, Santa Rosa, Redding, Chico, Sacramento, Central Valley, Fresno, Freedom, Santa Barbara, Riverside as well as a Toxicology Laboratory in Sacramento. The system now supports 46 out of 58 counties statewide.
Several BFS labs specialize in DNA analysis for criminal cases. These include facilities in Central Valley, Fresno, Redding, Riverside, Sacramento, Santa Barbara and the Jan Bashinski DNA Laboratory in Richmond. The Jan Bashinski Laboratory leads research efforts to advance DNA typing technology and coordinates statewide standards for forensic DNA analysis. It also manages CAL-DNA—a computerized database used for comparing DNA evidence with unknown offenders—which is integrated with national systems such as CODIS.