One of Nova Scotia s top public safety officers has been in Ottawathe past two days to determine the ramifications of the pendingclosure of the RCMP forensic lab in Halifax. Robert Purcell, executive director of public safety, left forOttawa on Wednesday, Justice Department spokesman Dan Harrison saidFriday. RCMP brass caught the province and other justice personnel offguard in late May when they announced they would shut the Halifaxlab, along with two others in Canada. There will now be threeforensic labs operating in Canada, down from six. Forensic work, such as DNA, firearms and other testing, will now bedone by the remaining labs, most notably, Ottawa. The Mounties have said they d save $3.5 million and garner efficiencies from the lab closures. Harrison said the meetings with the Mounties are primarilyinformation gathering. I think it s first to learn the information they re providingus and telling us more about their plan and how they intend forthis to work. After Purcell gets briefed, justice officials will analyse theinformation before making their next move, Harrison said. It s not clear what the department will do next, he said, addingit s premature to say the province will fight the closure. But critics have said the justice system in Nova Scotia could beseriously compromised because of backlogs due to the lower numberof forensic technicians who would be available. They are also worried that prosecutors would be pressured into notpursuing certain cases because it would take too long to getresults. Save for a brief statement confirming the lab shutdowns, theMounties have refused to provide any information as to how thereduced system will work. Nova Scotia Justice Minister Ross Landry has said he would like tosee the Halifax lab remain open, but believes the new system won thurt the provincial justice system. Sources told this newspaper that the already overburdened RCMP labhere could not turn over results in a murder case fast enough in2010. Halifax police instead hired a private lab to do the requiredforensic work in order to keep the murder suspect behind bars, thesources said. Police in Halifax confirmed they spent about $40,000 on privatelabs in the fiscal year ending in the spring of 2011. ( ehoare@herald.ca ). The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Hydraulic Gear Pump , Hydraulic Axial Pump Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit Kayaba Pumps today!
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