New York City Council Members Call for Forensic Oversight

Forensic Policy Advocate Sarah Chu testifies before New York City Council.

At a New York City Council Committee hearing today, council members questioned representatives of the city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) about its lack of forensic oversight in light of the recent discovery of a decade of systemic mishandling of sexual assault kits and repeated failures to upload DNA evidence into the state DNA database.

Innocence Project Forensic Policy Advocate Sarah Chu testified at the hearing—Oversight: Examining the Need for Meaningful Transparency, Review and Reporting in the Office of Chief Medical Examiner—in support of proposed legislation to increase transparency and improve forensic laboratory practices.

The new bills are sponsored by Health Committee Chair Maria Del Carmen Arroyo and Council Member Julissa Ferreras. The hearing was a joint session of the Health Committee and the Committee on Women’s Issues.

Read the

Innocence Project’s Statement

.