DATE:
April 8, 2025
03
TO:
Board of Supervisors
SUBJECT
SHERIFF- REQUEST FOR SINGLE SOURCE PROCUREMENTS FOR GENETIC GENEALOGY TECHNOLOGY, VALIDATION SERVICES, AND INSTRUMENT SUPPORT FROM VEROGEN (DISTRICTS: ALL)
OVERVIEW
The ability for the San Diego County Sheriff's Office Regional Crime Laboratory (Crime Lab) to perform Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis is vital to the County of San Diego because it leads to the identification of individuals who may be involved in committing crimes and plays a key role in exonerating the wrongly accused. Moreover, future offenses are prevented by apprehending perpetrators before they can commit further crimes. The Crime Lab proposes to utilize the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Fiscal Year 2024 Byrne Discretionary Community Project Grant to purchase and validate Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology, along with instrument support services, for use in DNA analysis and to generate Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) profiles.
The Crime Lab's Forensic Biology Section has approximately 40 John/Jane Doe cases that need NGS technology. Taking advantage of the increased sensitivity of NGS will allow the DNA Section to get superior results from cases involving unidentified decedents, which are CODIS eligible. The Forensic Biology Section estimates there are over 300 unsolved sexual assault cases since 2018 which may also benefit from NGS, and the Sheriff's Cold Case Homicide Team has identified 25 cases to date that could benefit from NGS. The Forensic Biology Section has a case backlog and has opted to outsource all validations for new technology when possible. By using VEROGEN, Sheriff's staff will be able to perform the full validation for both kits, making VEROGEN a cost-effective alternative to using the DNA analyst's time.
Today's request is for the Board of Supervisors to approve a single source procurement based on precluded competition because of the existence of patent rights, copy...
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