First conducted in 2003 to capture data on the 2002 workload and operations of the 351 publicly funded crime labs operating that year. It is produced every 3 or 4 years since it was first conducted. Includes all state, county, municipal, and federal crime labs that (1) are solely funded by government or whose parent organization is a government agency and (2) employ at least one full-time natural scientist who examines physical evidence in criminal matters and provides reports and opinion testimony with respect to such physical evidence in courts of law. For example, this includes DNA testing and controlled substance identification for federal, state, and local jurisdictions. Some publicly funded crime labs are part of a multi-lab system. Attempted to collect information from each lab in the system. Police identification units, although sometimes responsible for fingerprint analysis, and privately operated facilities were not included in the census.
