On August 26, 2020, the City issued a PO for the purchase of a new LCMS instrument that will permit the Crime Laboratory to conduct THC quantification testing. The LCMS instrument was delivered to the Crime Laboratory in three different containers; the last container was received on Thursday, September 24, 2020. The Crime Laboratory will have to pass an ANAB Assessment, and have quantification testing added to our Scope of Accreditation, prior to being able to conduct quantification casework. The Crime Laboratory has reviewed the original Qiacube validation reports and it was determined that further evaluation was required. Qiagen personnel respond to the Crime Laboratory multiple times in July to perform additional testing and to complete repairs on the Qiacubes, and the EZ1 instrument. The Biology Unit reviewed the new validation report, and after discussions with Qiagen personnel everyone agrees that additional work is necessary. The Crime Laboratory’s two current FTIR instruments are so old that their manufacturer has advised us that they will not provide service to those instruments after the current calendar year. On August 12, 2020 Assistant Police Director Christianne Kellett advised the Crime Laboratory that she had located funding to procure two new FTIR instruments. |