CSI: Montana: DNA evidence stacks up due to paltry pay
| October 22, 2007 |  View for printing |
Bill Unger, head of the Montana State Crime Laboratory in Missoula, knew he was in trouble early in 2005 when all but one of his DNA scientists quit within three months.
“I asked one of my scientists why she was leaving and she said she could give me 17,000 reasons,” said Unger. “I didn’t ask her for her salary (increase), but I think she’d just told me.” For more than a year and a half, low wages hobbled the DNA wing of the Montana crime lab. The DNA section shut down entirely for a time two years ago after it lost so many staff, the lone remaining employee couldn’t process DNA evidence from Montana crime scenes. Wages were so low, the lab didn’t attract a single qualified person to fill the vacancies after several national searches.
By Jennifer McKee of The Standard State Bureau
Full Story: http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2 ... ate_top.txt
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