Forensics: ICITAP Continues Efforts to Improve Performance of Global Forensics Community

On May 20, ICITAP partnered with the Costa Rica Judicial Investigations Department (OIJ) to deliver a webinar on the application of Lean Six Sigma process improvement in the forensic laboratory.  ICITAP has supported two groups from the OIJ with training in Lean Six Sigma upon which several members of the laboratory obtained Green Belt status.  Following the training, ICITAP facilitated visits to U.S. laboratories using Lean Six Sigma to reinforce the application of the concepts in daily routines.  The Costa Ricans originally learned about Lean Six Sigma through ICITAP-supported participation at the annual symposium of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD).  They became interested in Lean Six Sigma as a complement to international accreditation to mitigate the fact that quality improvements are often at the expense of timeliness.  After achieving international accreditation, the OIJ laboratory wanted to proactively address an increasing turnaround time.   After completing several laboratory-based projects as part of the training, the OIJ laboratory was able to reduce the backlog of cases in the laboratory over 90 days by 95%.  The Costa Ricans previously provided this webinar in Spanish to an audience of over 600 from ten countries including the United States (Puerto Rico).  These webinars demonstrate the role ICITAP plays in supporting a global forensic community where regional leaders share their experience with peers in other countries, including the United States.  For the benefit of American forensic scientists, ASCLD and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences have both marketed the event to their membership in their weekly email newsletters.