This Week's Program was . .
July 15, 2025
Our speaker today was Karen Zavarella, DNA Supervisor at the Lake County Crime Laboratory. The Lake County Crime Lab started in 1973 because of the need to get lab results faster. In the past BCI (Bureau of Criminal Investigations) was the lab that the entire state was using. There are now 8 crime labs located in Ohio, BCI is the state run crime lab. BCI sometimes has a backlog of investigations going on; and the counties that have their own labs are able to get information to the investigators quite a bit faster.
The Lake County Crime lab is under the administration of the Prosecuting Attorney, Charles Coulson. But by no means are they biased. The lab and the scientists working in the lab are working to find scientific evidence whether it leans towards the defense or the prosecution! The Lab is funded by a tax levy. They run on an approximate budget of $1.5 million annually. The Lab services all of the Lake County police agencies free of charge but do actually charge agencies outside of Lake County.
The Lab services include, DNA testing, toxicology testing, drug chemistry testing, fingerprints, firearms , and trace evidence examination. Each entity is run and maintained by a team or individuals to get that information out as quickly and efficiently as possible. They are a fully accredited lab. That means that external agencies come in to assess them every 4 years fully, and every year as a check up. The standards they are evaluated on are called ISO standards and there are over 450 of them. It is a rigorous set of standards! Karen is proud of the fact that they pass with no accreditation problems year after year.
Thank you Karen for coming to speak to us. Thanks also for sharing some investigations that you were part of where the crime was solved with DNA evidence.
Dan Garry, President and Karen Zavarella, DNA Supervisor for the Lake County Crime Laboratory posing for a picture.
Our next meeting is July 22, 2025 in the barn at the Lake County History Center. Our speaker will be Cathi Mezzopera, founder of A Kid At Art for the Heart.
