ST. LOUIS – Forensic science has evolved dramatically in the past 10 years. There is a new focus and respect for forensic scientists and investigators in achieving justice through the application of science to the processes of law.
The technology has certainly arrived to upgrade and enhance the practice of forensics to an exact science. What haven’t always been upgraded are the facilities that support these enhancements, which often contribute to the determination of innocence or guilt.
“Building the Case for a New Lab” can help professionals quantify, justify and build support for capital investment in your forensic facilities. Offered by Crime Lab Design, the half-day workshop will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Crime Lab Directors on Nov. 8 in San Diego.
Designed as a hands-on course, participants are encouraged to bring and share specific metrics about their existing lab, operations, staffing and funding. A short questionnaire will be provided to gather this information before the workshop begins.
Crime Lab Design Principal, Kenneth Mohr says, “Many laboratories across the country are under-funded, are located in inadequate facilities, don’t have the latest computers and equipment, and have ever-increasing demands for their services. This workshop will provide attendees with the tools and methodologies for building support and obtaining financial resources for a new or renovated forensic facility.”
Crime Lab Design is the collaboration of Harley Ellis, a national architecture and engineering firm specializing in laboratory facilities, and Health, Education + Research Associates (HERA), a laboratory planning, programming and design firm. HarleyEllis has offices in Detroit, Cincinnati, Chicago, and Los Angeles. HERA is based in
St. Louis, with additional locations in Research Triangle Park, N.C., and Kansas City. Together, the firms have taken the design of crime labs to the next level with clients such as the Los Angeles Regional Crime Laboratory, a joint lab for Los Angeles City and County; the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish & Wildlife Division’s Clark Bavin Laboratory in Ashland, Oregon; and the new Forensic Biology Laboratory for the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Crime Lab Design presenters include Mohr and Laurie Sperling, both principals with HERA, and Louis Hartman, PE, a principal of HarleyEllis.
Mohr specializes in forensic laboratory, programming, planning and design, with an emphasis on flexibility, equipment and scientific methodology. He works with governmental agencies, universities, corporations and healthcare institutions on technically demanding projects from programming and schematic design phases through construction administration. These laboratory projects include research, animal, analysis, teaching and manufacturing.
Sperling is a founding principal of HERA. Her expertise is programming and space planning of forensic/medical examiner facilities, R&D facilities, and academic teaching and research laboratories. She is actively involved in understanding and analyzing client needs, and in strategic planning.
Hartman is accomplished at working with many diverse stakeholders to meet project goals. He provides in-depth knowledge and expertise in the design and engineering of building infrastructure and utilities. He is also very familiar with sustainable design and energy saving techniques.
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Crime Lab Design was established in to provide the forensic science community with the programming, planning, design and engineering expertise required for the scientifically demanding environments of forensic facilities.
Source: Crime Lab Design
