The D.C. crime lab, which analyzes evidence gathered at crime scenes in the District, has had its accreditation suspended for 30 days by the ANSI National Accreditation Board. WTOP first reported the news.

The accreditation was suspended on April 2, 2021, according to a notice posted on the board’s website. The D.C. Department of Forensic Sciences plans to appeal the suspension as well as a possible accreditation withdrawal, according to Chris Geldart, the city’s Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice.

“We are implementing actions to ensure continuity of services through outside contract support while we will work with our judicial partners to assess and address the concerns and to ensure a fully accredited forensic crime lab that is independent of MPD and federal prosecutors,” Geldart said in a statement.

The suspension appears to apply to a wide range of casework conducted by the lab, including fingerprint and DNA analysis. It’s not immediately clear what prompted the decision.

The independent lab is already under a criminal investigation by the D.C. Office of the Inspector General following allegations that its managers pressured employees to alter their analyses of evidence to cover up an error that wrongly linked two 2015 shootings to a single firearm, WTOP reported. The allegations are outlined in an audit conducted by independent forensic experts and filed in D.C. Superior Court.

“This is a very serious and concerning outcome. But it is not surprising, given the significant issues raised in our Auditor’s final report,” a spokesperson for D.C.’s Office of the Attorney General writes in a statement. “We hope it will be the first step in reforming the lab and rebuilding confidence in it. OAG hopes to again be able to call DFS forensic expert witnesses in criminal and juvenile cases once these troubling problems are addressed. When scientific evidence is presented in court, it’s essential that all sides and the public can trust its fairness and accuracy.”

In 2015, the accreditation board ordered the crime lab to suspend DNA analyses after an audit found flaws in the lab’s processes, The Washington Post reported.

The $210 million crime lab, intended to reduce the city’s dependence on federal law enforcement resources, opened to fanfare in 2012. It’s charged with providing forensic analyses to the Metropolitan Police Department, the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and other city agencies.

The lab’s mission is to provide “high-quality, timely, accurate and reliable forensic science services” with “a focus on unbiased science and transparency,” according to the DFS website.

This post was updated to include comments from D.C.’s Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice and the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia.