Federal funding made available by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) through the DNA Initiative helped state and local governments significantly increase the capacity of their DNA laboratories between 2005 and 2008. At the same time, the demand for DNA testing continues to outstrip the capacity of crime laboratories to process these cases. This report addresses the issue that crime laboratories are processing more cases than ever before, but their expanded capacity has not been able to meet the increased demand. The report examines what a backlog is and how backlogs can be reduced. .
