Summary:
Shelby County commissioners just approved the region’s first-ever locally funded crime lab, marking a major milestone in West Tennessee’s law enforcement capabilities.. With $1.5 million in initial annual funding (and a path for more), the lab will kick off with digital forensics—cell phone analysis—while ballistics and rapid DNA testing gear come next. The West Tennessee Drug Task Force is pitching in up to $200K for rapid DNA equipment under an MOU, ensuring a collaborative regional boost. DA Steve Mulroy and Mayor Lee Harris pitched this move as critical to cutting case backlogs, boosting solve rates, and getting violent offenders off the streets faster
