Crime

Dept. Of Justice Working On Establishing Forensic Lab

ST. THOMAS --  “This is the first time in the history of the Virgin Islands that the Department of Justice has a facility of this kind.” So said Attorney General Claude Earl Walker during brief remarks Wednesday morning at a ceremony to unveil plans for the Department of Justice’s forensic facility on St. Thomas, according V.I. D.O.J.'s Public Media Officer Corliss Smithen. The Consortium was present for the press conference, which was held at the facility here, and the publication will have video footage of the event Thursday morning. The facility, which includes a morgue for the medical examiner, will be housed in the building formerly known as Creque’s Funeral Home located at 1A-11 Beltjen Gade. Mr. Walker said the facility will also be used for other areas of forensic science when it becomes fully operational. “It will be used as training for local law enforcement officers in areas such as anatomy and mechanism of injuries, methods of collecting evidence, such as blood specime...