Texas 2010 NIJ grants

Now that the federal FY 2010 has come and gone, here's an account of grants given to Texas recipients in the last year from the National Institute of Justice, compiled from this source:

• City of Austin, Forensic DNA Backlog Reduction Program: $182,097
• Houston PD Crime Lab, Forensic DNA Backlog Reduction Program: $1,143,339
• Bexar County, Forensic DNA Backlog Reduction Program: $127,119
• State of Texas, Forensic DNA Backlog Reduction Program: $2,401320
• Tarrant County, Forensic DNA Backlog Reduction Program: $280,892
• University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, Forensic DNA Backlog Reduction Program:  $785,138
• Harris County, Genetic Markers Associated With Sudden Unexplained Death or Sudden Infant Death: $254,521
• UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth, Addressing Quality and Quantity; the Role of DNA Repair and Whole Genome Amplification in Forensically Relevant Samples: Center at Fort Worth      $363,613
• Harris County, Independent Validation Test of Microscopic Analysis of Saw Marks in Bone: $26,409
• Harris County: Gunshot Residue in a Non-Firearm-Related Detainee Population:      $88,837
• Sam Houston State University, Development and Quantitative Evaluation of Steganalysis and Digital Forgery Detection System: $331,056
• Southwest Research Institute, Reducing Uncertainty of Quantifying the Burning Rate of Upholstered Furniture: $497,688
• Texas A&M Research Foundation, Development and Validation of Standard Operating Procedures for Measuring Microbial Populations for Estimating a Postmortem Interval: $476,348
• University of North Texas Health Science Center At Fort Worth, The University of North Texas Center for Human Identification Project: Using DNA Technology to Identify the Missing: $2,808,508
• City of Austin, Police Department Forensic Science Improvement Program: $175,000
• City of Fort Worth, Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grant Program: $129,590
• City of Lancaster, Lancaster Police Department Regional Crime Lab: $169,558
• El Paso County Sheriff's Office, Paul Coverdell Forensic 2010 Grant: $175,000
• State of Texas, Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grant for Crime Laboratories: $1,828,254
• Tarrant County, Histology Backlog Reduction Program: $67,136
• Texas State University, Project Identification: Developing Accurate Identification Criteria for Hispanic Individuals: $151,325
• Sheriff's Association of Texas, 1033 Program Support: $4,609,496
• Sheriff's Association of Texas, Advancing Criminal Justice Policy, Practice and Technology — Evaluation of Low-Cost Aviation Options for Law Enforcement: $485,146

I may have missed a couple but those are the ones I identified where money came to Texas.

I've got to say, while the money for DNA backlogs, etc., is certainly needed, given the glaring need for primary research on forensic sciences, the priorities depicted by these grants are disappointing.