4-Oct-2015

Did New York State Police scapegoat its crime lab scientists?

Albany, NY

The Albany Times Union reviewed government records from the New York State Police alleged “cheating” scandal. These documents raise questions about whether DNA analysts were wrongly accused of cheating. The front page Sunday news article interviewed many people, including Cybergenetics Chief Scientist Dr. Mark Perlin.

"The students did their own work," Perlin said. "Everybody gets their own data. It's a laboratory. The numbers you get are different from everybody else's numbers." At the request of the Times Union, Perlin analyzed the test results of the scientists accused of cheating and compared them with two control groups that also completed the same exams, including one from outside New York.

"There was no statistical significant difference on the examinations between any of these three groups," he said. "It's clear that they did talk and they did share, but over 90 percent (if not more) of what they were doing was their own work. ... The bottom line is they actually learned it quite well."

• Did New York State Police scapegoat its crime lab scientists? Records review raises questions about whether they were wrongly accused of cheating. - Newspaper