MANSFIELD, Ohio — The Mansfield city police department’s crime lab already was recognized as one of the best in the state.
Now it is among the finest in the country.
The Mansfield Division of Police Forensic Science Section Laboratory joined an exclusive fraternity when it received International Accreditation from the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB). The Mansfield lab is one of just 359 internationally accredited federal, state, local and private forensic labs.
Retired ASCLD/LAB executive director Ralph “Bud” Keaton presented forensic scientist and lab director Anthony Tambasco and his team of DNA analyst Dawn Fryback and evidence technician Cindy Reed with a new accreditation certificate during a ceremony Tuesday morning in the Hutchinson Classroom.
“It’s a huge, huge achievement to attain accreditation,” police chief Ken Coontz said. “Tony and Dawn and Cindy have worked so hard trying to (achieve) this milestone. We’re very proud of our crime lab.
“Not only do they take on our case load. Columbus police department … brings up DNA samples for Dawn to analyze. It’s huge when the biggest police department in the entire state is coming to dinky Mansfield to have quality scientific work completed on their cases. That speaks volumes.”
The crime lab received its first ASCLD/LAB accreditation in 2006 and was recognized with ASCLD/LAB Legacy Accreditation in 2009. To qualify for International Accreditation, the lab had to achieve 400 additional quality standards.
“It’s a great opportunity to be here in ‘dinky’ Mansfield,” Keaton joked. “There is some significance to that. I’ve had the opportunity to go to some very large laboratories, like the New York City police laboratory where they had an accreditation ceremony and brought in their 50-member band.
“The thought is that, to the citizens of Mansfield and the police departments you serve … the three-person laboratory and the work they do is every bit as important as the work done in a 400-person laboratory.”
The ASCLD/LAB completed its inspection in January and issued accreditation in late May.
“Going through this process of accreditation, you can be assured that the quality of the work that is being done here is comparable (to bigger labs),” Keaton said. “I’ve known (Tambasco) for a long time and I knew a long time before they ever became accredited that he believed in quality work.
“You’ve always had good work here. What accreditation does is determine you have been measured against internationally-established standards for the quality of your work. It gives you a confidence that the work coming out of this laboratory can be relied upon.”
The crime lab’s reports are used in court by Richland County Prosecutor Bambi Couch Page.
“We have a new grand jury in right now and we were going through some drug cases and DNA things and I explained to them what a fantastic lab we have here,” Couch Page said. “Few people really realize by the amount of work done and the exceptional work that is done. We are truly blessed.”
“You’ve always had good work here. What accreditation does is determine you have been measured against internationally-established standards for the quality of your work. It gives you a confidence that the work coming out of this laboratory can be relied upon,” “Bud” Keaton said.
