A national forensics board suspended the D.C. crime lab’s accreditation over the department’s deliberate concealment of information and fraudulent behavior, according to the suspension letter issued by the board and obtained by WTOP. 

The ANSI National Accreditation Board suspended the D.C. Department of Forensic Science’s accreditation over the weekend, and details of the suspension letter now state that the board has “credible evidence” that the lab has “deliberately concealed information from the ANAB assessment team, violated accreditation requirements, engaged in misrepresentations and fraudulent behavior, and engaged in conduct that brings ANAB into disrepute.”

The ANSI National Accreditation Board declined to provide DCist/WAMU with a copy of the suspension letter, citing confidentiality restrictions.

According to WTOP, the letter clarifies that the suspension is directly linked to an audit of the lab conducted by independent forensics experts last month. The report, commissioned by D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, concluded that the lab erroneously connected cartridge casings from two 2015 killings to the same gun, and later misrepresented the mistake to two national accreditation boards. The allegations also sparked a criminal investigation by the D.C. Office of the Inspector General, which is still ongoing.

When the lab’s accreditation was suspended over the weekend, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Chris Geldart said the D.C. Department of Forensic Sciences planned to appeal the suspension as well as a possible accreditation withdrawal.

“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.

Geldart’s office declined to comment further on the latest allegations regarding the suspension.

According to WTOP, the ANSI letter notes that the suspension is temporary, but that the board is “initiating the process,” for a complete withdrawal of the lab’s accreditation.

Under the legislation that created the crime lab as an entity independent of the Metropolitan Police Department, the department is required to be accredited. It’s unclear what the city’s next move would be, should the lab lose its appeal.

In a press conference on Monday, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser supported an investigation into the lab’s practices, but also stated that she is committed to defending the lab over the next 30 days.

“We are committed in our city to an independent lab, that’s a lab that’s independent from the Metropolitan Police Department and independent of the United States Attorney’s Office,” Bowser said Monday.  “We are very proud of the lab that we have built at DFS. Having said that, any questions about the processes at our lab, we want fully investigated, and we will fully participate in that investigation.”

During the suspension period, Geldart and Bowser said the city will be relying on private and potentially some federal labs, like the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

The lab, which opened in 2012, has come under scrutiny in the past. In 2015, the ANSI National Accreditation Board ordered the lab to suspend all DNA analysis after concluding that the lab’s procedures were “insufficient and inadequate.”

This post was updated with responses from the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice and the ANSI National Accreditation Board.