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Broward County Office of Medical Examiner and Trauma Services, FL

Broward County Office of Medical Examiner and Trauma Services helps address the national shortage of medical examiners through ME/C funding

Since being awarded grant funding through the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s (BJA’s) Strengthening the Medical Examiner-Coroner (ME/C) System Program, the Broward County Office of Medical Examiner and Trauma Services (BCOMETS) has successfully trained seven forensic pathology fellows. BCOMETS has one current fellow nearing the completion of their fellowship, with another aspiring forensic pathology fellow set to begin July 1, 2025. Additionally, BCOMETS is concluding interviews for the 2026-2027 academic year, aiming to welcome their ninth forensic pathology fellow that will be funded through their ME/C Program grant.
March 2025
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District One Medical Examiner, FL

Florida’s District One Medical Examiner’s Office set to break ground on new standalone facility, thanks to ME/C funding

Florida’s District One Medical Examiner’s Office utilized funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s (BJA’s) Strengthening the Medical Examiner-Coroner (ME/C) System Program to create the conceptual schematic design and layout for a new facility. This new facility will be the first ever standalone medical examiner’s office in their district’s 50-year history. This new facility will not only allow them to better serve the four counties in their district but will also support the requirements for National Association of Medical Examiner (NAME) accreditation. The District One Medical Examiner Director of Operations said “These ME/C Program funds were an integral piece to push the capital construction project forward. We were able to leverage these grant funds, along with state funding, to get the four counties that we serve to agree to provide the remaining funding necessary for the new facility. Without these ME/C Program funds, the project would not have gotten off the ground and we would be much further back in the process. Construction will begin in March 2025 with an anticipated completion of July 2026. The BJA funding through the ME/C Program made a big difference in our pursuit of a new facility that will meet the requirements for NAME accreditation.”
March 2025
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Highlights

Lehigh County Coroner’s Office achieves National Association of Medical Examiners accreditation through ME/C funding

Through the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s (BJA’s) Strengthening the Medical Examiner-Coroner System (ME/C) Program, Lehigh County Coroner’s Office (LCCO) of Allentown, Pennsylvania improved their professional standards and services by achieving accreditation through the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME). Obtaining NAME accreditation represents a “seal of approval” from a community consisting of medical examiners, forensic pathologists, and medicolegal partners across the nation.
February 2025
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City of Cape Coral, FL

The City of Cape Coral’s uses Coverdell funds to purchase a full-spectral imaging device to support evidence detection and documentation

The City of Cape Coral, Florida utilized Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants (Coverdell) Program funding to purchase a Crime-lite® AUTO for use in homicide investigations. The use of this full-spectral imaging device specifically assisted a neighboring law enforcement agency in detecting and documenting evidence in a homicide case that involved a stabbing. The imaging device’s infrared capabilities aided in revealing bloodstains on a suspect’s black shirt, which can be extremely difficult to detect, enabling the law enforcement agency’s technician to photograph the bloodstains and collect a sample for DNA analysis.
November 2024
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Central Ohio Regional Crime Laboratory, OH 

Ohio Regional Crime Laboratory utilizes Coverdell funding to support annual analyst training and defray the costs of consumables, standards, and instrument maintenance

The Central Ohio Regional Crime Laboratory (CORCL) operates in conjunction with the Central Ohio Drug Enforcement Task Force under the Licking County Sheriff’s Office. CORCL currently provides controlled substance and forensic analysis casework for seven counties and thirty-four law enforcement agencies located predominantly in southwest Ohio. CORCL currently operates on grant and fee-for-service funding except for personnel salary and benefits, which are covered by the Licking County Sheriff’s Office. CORCL’s Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants (Coverdell) Program is used to support analysts to attend annual trainings that focus on challenges in seized drug analysis and the constantly evolving testing methods and classifications of opioids. Additionally, a portion of CORCL’s Coverdell funding is set aside to defray the costs of consumables, controlled substance standards, and maintain CORCL’s two gas chromatography-mass spectrometry instruments that are used to test opioids and other controlled substances.
November 2024
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Highlights

Texas State University’s Operation Identification uses MUHR funding to assist rural jurisdictions with unidentified human remains cases

Operation Identification (OpID) within the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State University started ten years ago with the aim of locating, exhuming, and working towards identification for long-term unidentified human remains (UHRs) in South Texas. These UHRs represent border crossing deaths that had no DNA samples in CODIS, and little attention given to investigation efforts. While OpID still works with long-term UHRs, OpID is also now assisting rural jurisdictions with more recent deaths thanks to the FY 2022 MUHR award. With the continual rise in migrant deaths, many counties are overwhelmed with UHRs and have little resources to process them and work towards identification. To ensure these UHR are not buried and forgotten, OpID proposed to work with local jurisdictional authorities to remotely assist with identification efforts. Recently, OpID was able to put this prosed work into action with funding from the MUHR Program. OpID was contacted by the Brooks County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) on May 9, 2022, regarding the discovery of a recent UHR that was decomposed beyond recognition. Two Guatemalan identification cards were found within clothing on the remains; however, this cannot be considered an identification. The consulate was notified and contacted the family to obtain several familial reference samples (FRS). BCSO does not take DNA samples from UHRs nor do other jurisdictional authorities within the county, therefore an OpID team member traveled a few hours to Brooks County to obtain a DNA sample from the UHR in the BCSO refrigerated storage unit. Due to the strong identification hypothesis, following county protocols and chain of custody procedures, the OpID team sent the FRS and UHR DNA sample to a private laboratory for comparison at the request of the consulate. Two weeks later, OpID was notified of a positive genetic association that was then compared to all circumstantial information. The appropriate jurisdictional authority signed off on the identification and the repatriation process began. The MUHR funding allowed OpID to hire more staff allowing OpID members to travel to Brooks County for DNA collection and to provide a quick turnaround for this case. Without the capability of assisting Brooks County, previous turnaround times for DNA comparisons have been anywhere from six months to two years.
October 2023
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Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (CT)

The State of Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s Fellows Make large impact at agency and contribute to the expansion of the profession

Through the support of their Strengthening the Medical Examiner-Coroner System Program grant, the State of Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has graduated three Forensic Pathology Fellows over the past two years. These fellows completed over 700 autopsies, participated in and published research projects, presented at the National Association of Medical Examiners Annual Meeting, and took an active role in teaching over 150 visiting Pathology Residents and medical students with hands-on autopsies and lectures on topics in Forensic Pathology, contributing to the expansion of the profession. Over the past year, their most recent Fellow graduate completed over 225 autopsies on a wide variety of causes and manners of death, including 34 homicides; assisted in the investigation of 23 scenes; and testified in two trials.
September 2023
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Highlights

Idaho State Police Forensic Services uses Coverdell funding to develop a statewide Question Documents Program and maintain Breath Alcohol Section accreditation

The Idaho State Police Forensic Services is using Coverdell funding to ramp up a statewide Question Documents Program. This Program will also service laboratories throughout the country to help address the decreasing availability of Question Documents examination. The Idaho State Police Forensic Service also employed a Coverdell–funded employee to conduct the majority of their breath alcohol calibrations to assist in maintaining accreditation of their Breath Alcohol Section. After obtaining this accreditation, they are able to calibrate every instrument in Idaho on an annual basis.
September 2023
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Highlights

Office of the Medical Examiner, District 19, FL uses Strengthening the Medical Examiner-Coroner System funding to achieve accreditation

On November 18, 2022, in conjunction with the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice, Strengthening the Medical Examiner-Coroner (ME/C) System Program Grant, the Office of the Medical Examiner, District 19 (OME-19), Florida became a fully accredited agency by the National Association of Medical Examiner’s (NAME). Since only twelve of the twenty-five districts in the state are NAME accredited, the OME-19 is particularly proud of this accomplishment. Through hard work, dedication, planning, and the assistance of this grant, the OME-19, in a short period of time, was able to turn what was thought to be something unachievable (due to building and financial constraints) to something successfully achieved.
November 2022

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