Rush Requests
At the NLCL, providing timely results is a core value (Customer Service). We understand that certain situations may necessitate placing cases in a "rush" status. These situations are defined as follows:
Immediate Requests
These requests may require work outside normal business hours:
Public Safety: Requests involving serious crimes of violence where there is supporting information indicating an imminent threat of additional violence.
72-Hour Hold: Requests where an individual has been arrested and can only be held for 72 hours, necessitating conclusive results from forensic analysis within that timeframe.
High-Priority Requests
High Profile: Requests likely to draw media attention and requiring timely results (e.g., officer-involved shootings, major crime scenes).
Imminent Trial: Requests where the trial date is within 30 days.
Please note: Under no circumstances should a rush analysis request be interpreted as a change to or shortening of the required analysis process that would otherwise be performed. A rush request that is received and accepted shall only expedite the analysis to the "front of the line." All necessary testing procedures will still be followed.
In order to facilitate these requests, please fill out the electronic submission form on this page. Once this form has been properly filled out, the following steps will occur:
Procedure:
Rush request received.
An email is sent to the requestor (with the supervisor cc’d), notifying them of receipt of the rush request and that it is under review by the Supervisor.
Rush request email is uploaded to LIMS.
Case is assigned to the supervisor for review.
Supervisor reviews the request and responds via email with acceptance and/or rejection and the estimated time of completion.
Case is re-assigned to an analyst.
Reason field is updated to RUSH.
Due date is updated to reflect the expected completion date.