Michigan State Police (MSP) Director Col. Peter C. Munoz is pleased to announce that all seven of the department's forensic laboratories have retained accreditation by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB).  The on-site inspection, which is conducted every five years, was most recently completed in May 2006 by a team of 22 trained inspectors from around the country who spent one week inspecting each of the MSP's seven laboratories.

Robert Stacey, Chair of the ASCLD/LAB Board of Directors, was in Michigan today at the MSP Lansing Laboratory to formally present the department's accreditation certificates.

MSP laboratories were first accredited in September 1984.  While not mandatory, the ASCLD/LAB accreditation process allows a laboratory to demonstrate that its management, personnel, operational and technical procedures, equipment and physical facilities meet established standards.  Accreditation is one facet of the MSP Forensic Science Division quality assurance program, which also includes proficiency testing, continuing education and other programs to help MSP labs provide better overall service to the criminal justice system.

MSP laboratories account for seven of the more than 260 laboratories worldwide that currently hold the ASCLD/LAB accreditation.

The MSP Forensic Science Division provides crime lab services to state, county and municipal law enforcement agencies statewide at no cost to local communities.  Services include bomb squad response, crime scene response, drug analysis, firearms and toolmark identification, DNA analysis, polygraph services, latent print analysis, toxicology/blood alcohol, questioned documents, micro-chemical analysis, and use of information sharing networks including the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), Integrated Ballistics Identification System (IBIS) and Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).

MSP labs are located in Bridgeport, Lansing, Grand Rapids, Grayling, Marquette, Northville and Sterling Heights.