April 16, 2024
Police Department
DATE: April 16, 2024
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Bisa French, Chief of Police
Subject:
Sole-Source Contract with Serological Research Institute for Forensic DNA Testing and Analysis
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The proposed expenditure of $49,000 will be partially expended and is included in the Police Department’s
approved Fiscal Year 2023-2024 budget. The remaining
unspent balance is included in the proposed Fiscal Year 2024-2025 budget (01191021-400201).
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
n/a
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
Serological Research Institute has industry leading lab equipment and testing procedures that can return
positive results in 98 percent of cases. The patented
technology can outperform Contra Costa County Lab
equipment in head-to-head tests.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
APPROVE a one-year sole-source contract with
Serological Research Institute, in an amount not to
exceed $49,000, for the term April 17, 2024, through April 16, 2025, with two mutually agreed upon one-year
extensions, for an additional amount not to exceed
$49,000 per fiscal year – Police Department (Chief Bisa French 510-621-1802).
AGENDA
REPORT
April 16, 2024
DISCUSSION:
In the past calendar year, Richmond Police Department (PD) Detectives have investigated 2,651 felony cases and successfully closed 2,318 of those cases, for an 87 percent closure rate. For comparison sake, “[i]n 2020, about 45 percent of reported violent crimes in California were solved. While this clearance rate has fluctuated somewhat, peaking at slightly above 50 percent in the late 1990s, it has stayed within a relatively narrow band over the last decade and is roughly where it was in the late 1980s”, according to a blog post on the Public Policy Institute of California’s website written by Magnus Lofstrom on May 11, 2023. Part of the Detective’s success is dependent on witness testimonies and physical evidence.
Richmond PD staff works closely with many local agencies – namely Oakland and San Pablo police departments – that have had success in solving cases with the technical assistance of Serological Research Institute, which is located within the city of Richmond. Serological Research Institute claims a 98-percent success rate in obtaining a DNA profile, or profiles, from physical evidence, such as expended cartridge casings.
Based on the success rate of Serological Research Institute, and some head-to-head test analyses, it is believed that Serological Research Institute has a technical advantage over other DNA forensic labs.
Not all evidence is the same - sometimes Police Department staff collect numerous samples, sometimes a few, or none at all. When there is very little evidence, the evidence the staff does have is all the more important. It is understood that Serological Research Institutes lab equipment has been able to provide positive test results when County Forensic Services Division could not. Richmond PD staff will evaluate the evidence prior to deciding which lab testing services it will use to accomplish the Department’s goal of solving homicides and compare estimated costs. The Detective’s expert evaluation completed prior to sending evidence to a lab will be important because additional costs may be incurred by re-testing elsewhere and will be factored into the decision.
For the past two years, Richmond PD staff have held a short-form contract with Serological Research Institute, and recently sent in several pieces of evidence that Serological Research Institute has identified as having usable evidence. However, since Richmond PD staff does not have a reference sample, Richmond PD staff would like to continue these case analyses with Serological Research Institute in the hopes that with further testing, Serological Research Institute can identify a positive match through a shared forensic database called Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), which they have access to. To comply with the City’s Purchasing Policy, Richmond PD staff has completed and received approval of a sole-source form (Attachment 2).
Serological Research Institute lists the following agencies as their clients: Vallejo PD, Berkeley PD, Concord PD, Antioch PD, Daly City PD, Solano Sherrif’s Office (SO), Sonoma SO, along with at least one out-of-state agency (Savannah, GA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
April 16, 2024
Richmond PD staff urges City Council to approve the lab services provided by Serological Research Institute via a sole-source contract, for a one-year term in an amount not to exceed $49,000, with two one-year extensions for the same annual amount of $49,000 per fiscal year, provided that both parties mutually agree. Richmond PD staff believe the results will have a positive impact on cases that can be solved.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Original Contract
Attachment 2 – Sole-Source Form