Leahy Secures $500,000 for Vermont Crime Lab
Funds to Help Handle Rise in Drug-Related Crime in Vermont
January 10, 2001
The Vermont Forensic Laboratory, which has seen
a 400 percent increase in heroin cases over the past year, will receive a
half-million dollars in federal funds secured by Sen. Patrick Leahy to help the
lab handle the added caseload.
Increased heroin use and a late-year surge in
homicides in Vermont have strained the lab’s resources, causing concern that
law enforcement efforts to stem Vermont’s heroin problem could suffer without
added funding.
"The crime lab is the crucial link between
police work and successful prosecutions," said Leahy. "There is no
substitute for a properly equipped lab. Good forensic work is a key component of
our defense against further proliferation of dangerous drugs like heroin and
crack cocaine. The lab and its employees have helped keep Vermont’s crime rate
among the lowest in the nation. They deserve a great deal of credit for the
important work they do."
Leahy included the funds in the new annual
budget of the U.S. Department of Justice. The president signed the budget bill
on Dec. 21. Leahy is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee and of its
Commerce-Justice-State Subcommittee, the panel with Senate jurisdiction over
this bill. Leahy also is current chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
which oversees the Justice Department.
These funds will help the state replace aging
equipment and purchase instruments to analyze drugs and biological evidence and
trace evidence, including heroin, hair fibers, fingerprints, ballistics and DNA,
according to Dr. Eric Buel, director of the Waterbury facility.
The crime lab serves 92 local, state and federal
law enforcement organizations.
Leahy has led federal efforts to help Vermont
combat illegal drug use and drug offenses. Late last year, Leahy secured three
other major federal earmarks for Vermont including:
- $400,000 for Vermont’s
Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Task Force;
- $150,000 for the Vermont Coalition of
Teen Centers, a network of 39 centers across the state to help prevent
teens from getting involved with drugs;
- $100,000 for the Vermont Department of
Health to plan treatment programs for adolescents and young adults.
(Leahy earlier announced an initial $75,000 in funding, but he was able
to increase the funding by $25,000 during the budget negotiation
process.)
Additional Vt. Contact: Dr. Eric Buel, Director,
Vermont Forensics Laboratory, 244-8788
