Nassau lab: evidence of more trouble

Even without a crime lab, Nassau County is having trouble with evidence.

Since the facility's recent closure -- after having been put on probation for the second time in five years -- the county has FedExed samples to a private lab in Pennsylvania, at a cost of $100,000 per month. Last week, two small marijuana samples and a scale disappeared while in the hands of the shipping company, potentially leaving one criminal case in disarray.

Lots of police organizations, including the FBI, use FedEx and other carriers to ship evidence. And this mishap isn't the fault of anyone in the Nassau Police Department. But the department will now drive the samples to Pennsylvania each week, realizing it can't take the slightest chance of another mishap.

In other bad news for the county, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that technicians who test evidence cannot simply submit written reports to courts in criminal trials, but must testify in person. That means technicians will have to be brought to Nassau from Pennsylvania at the county's expense when needed.

Nassau Executive Edward Mangano has serious management issues. The planned crime lab, run independently of the police with a fully civilian staff, could solve many of them. But it's not set to begin operating for 12 to 18 months.

It must open as quickly as possible. Until then, even the best-case scenario is expensive. The worst case, based on the last six months, is hard even to imagine. hN