According to a lengthy report issued Thursday by Auditor General William Holland, the number of backlogged cases at the state police labs ballooned during Blagojevich’s tenure in office.
Yet, the audit found the state either didn’t spend or transferred millions of dollars out of the agency that could have been used to hire additional scientists to process DNA and other crime scene evidence.
As a result of Blagojevich’s management decisions, the number of scientists working at the labs declined by 3 percent at the same time the backlog of cases was mushrooming.
“Failure to maintain necessary staffing levels results in cases remaining unsolved and serial criminals could remain free to commit additional crimes,” the audit noted.
In all, there are nine labs across the state processing crime scene evidence. The division offers all police entities in Illinois crime scene services, including polygraph and facial reconstruction.
The audit found that the backlog of evidence has grown by 203 percent at a time when the total number of cases only grew by 10 percent.
But he didn’t raise your income taxes.
For extra fun check out the Governor’s State compliance exam. While U of I is audited and some financial controls were lacking, Governor’s State is essentially not keeping track of federal funds for students. Ultimately, Governor’s State could face loss of federal funds for enough of those violations. Thanks Emil.