Austin police to hire forensics chief

Officials hope the move will bolster public confidence in the lab.

Austin police are planning to hire a new forensics director with a deep scientific background to ensure the proper collection and analysis of evidence — a move that officials hope will bolster public confidence in an operation that has been under scrutiny for the past year.

As part of a newly created position, the director will oversee all facets of the forensics division, such as fingerprint and blood analysis, for instance, while the DNA section of the department’s lab will continue to be managed through a contract with the Texas Department of Public Safety.

DNA has been at the heart of concerns about how the department has handled forensic evidence, leading officials to shutter that portion of the lab last year amid a state audit that raised questions about its operations.

But officials said they also want the public to have confidence in all aspects of forensic evidence.

In the past, the forensics lab has been overseen by police or civilians, but interim Police Chief Brian Manley said Wednesday that the Police Department now wants a leader with a forensics background.

“As police officers, there are things we are good at, but the science behind running a lab, a multidiscipline lab like we have, going from chemistry and blood work to DNA to drug analysis, there is so much that goes on that is really beyond the expertise of anyone in law enforcement,” Manley said.

According to Manley, the job was posted this summer, and the department is sorting through applications from a national search. The position requires that applicants have master’s degrees in specific sciences, such as chemistry or biology, and Manley said the salary would be negotiated with finalists once they are identified.

“We recognize the operations in the lab, the seriousness of them, and we want to have someone running that operation for us who has the absolute skills, knowledge, ability, the appropriate scientific background to run that operation,” Manley said.

Officials did not know when they will appoint the director but hope to do so in the next few weeks.

Police officials abruptly closed the DNA portion of the lab in