Illinois State Police making changes to address DNA processing delays

CHICAGO (WLS) -- New action has been announced Wednesday to reduce DNA evidence from murder investigations, that's sitting unchecked. The Consumer I-Team broke the story of the delays at Illinois crime labs.

Governor Pritzker and the state police said they are making changes to address their backlog of more than 750 Chicago murder cases that have been stalled at state labs, awaiting DNA analysis.

RELATED: Hundreds of Chicago murders may remain unsolved due to DNA processing delays

The changes include:

• A newly hired Assistant Deputy Director of Forensic Services


• ISP will be conducting new staff "account meetings" of their progress



• A refined forensic processing system


• And new hires, including 6 Forensic Scientist Trainees and by the end of 2019, there will be an additional ten.

READ: Full release on ISP changes to DNA processing

Pritzker said fixing "unacceptable forensic backlogs is a top priority" and the initial steps are focused on accountability, manpower and technology to reduce turnaround time.