Officials break round on the new Louisiana State Police Crime Lab, November 2, 2023.
Governor John Bel Edwards and Colonel Lamar Davis officially broke ground on the site of the new State Police Crime Lab this morning. The new state-of-the-art facility will replace the existing lab that’s four decades old. Davis said it’s more challenging to solve crimes in an old facility.
“It takes more personnel, it takes more equipment, it takes different types of equipment, and you have to have a facility that’s flexible and but also innovative and that allows us to really solves these crimes for today and into the future,” said Davis.
And while it’s called the State Police Crime Lab, Governor Edwards said 200 agencies in Louisiana routinely submit evidence in addition to LSP investigations.
“They’re gathering and processing, analyzing all of that evidence really for most of the agencies in the state,” said Edwards.
In the past year alone, the lab has taken on more than 16,000 new cases and it’s often the data processed that will decide one’s guilt or innocence. In addition to solving crimes, Edwards said the facility plays another vital role…
“And a lot of the work they do isn’t just to figure out who the suspect is but figure out who it isn’t and that’s important as well,” said Edwards.
The new facility will be constructed on the grounds of the State Police Headquarters in Baton Rouge. It’s expected to cost up to $100 million and be completed in three years.
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