City councilor may ask state to intervene on Boston crime lab 'crisis'

One day after 5 Investigates' Karen Anderson revealed claims that potential new leads in old rape cases in Boston were left to sit for months, Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn says he is considering asking the state to investigate."I was angry, I was frustrated, and I immediately said, how are we going to improve this?" Flynn said. Flynn has been scrutinizing the city's crime laboratory's procedures for months, calling the issues a 'crisis' in a post on social media site X on Wednesday. After learning about the Boston Police report of more delays at the crime laboratory, Flynn said he is now considering asking the State Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to investigate."We would have to ensure that we do get the funding at another place, and we might have to call for an investigation by the State Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to thoroughly review our crime lab procedures, policies, personnel, how we are testing and bring in different people that can help provide leadership," Flynn said. "We don't have that positive leadership in Boston's crime lab right now."The report came from the team using a federal grant to solve cold case rapes, and says advanced testing of old rape kits identified 28 new DNA profiles of potential suspects, but that those profiles then sat for months at the lab.A spokesperson for the Boston Police Department claims the information in the Boston police performance report submitted to the federal government for the grant is inaccurate. "The timeline in the report is incorrect and we are investigating how that occurred," the spokesperson wrote to 5 Investigates in a statement. Boston police say the majority of the DNA profiles provided to them from the outside lab have now been verified and uploaded to the national DNA database.The document also cites "chronic instability in departmental leadership." 5 Investigates reported in April that the crime lab has also operated without a director for nearly two years.The report goes on to state that Boston Police aren't using the latest technology for testing rape kits, including what is known as Y screening. That screening is used in crime laboratories across the country, including in New York, Philadelphia and Seattle.Flynn says the city deserves better."Boston's the oldest police department in the country and probably the best police department of the country," he said. "We can't have a second-rate crime lab."