District officials have struggled for years to come to grips with modern, scientific police work. As late as 2007, the department was still using carbon to make copies of its reports. Chief Cathy Lanier has promised to drag the department into the 21st century, but her record is spotty. » The department lacks its own crime laboratory. Despite receiving tens of thousands of dollars in federal and local grants, the department didn’t see a single lab technician attain certification for four years. The man they brought in to fix the program, William Vosburgh, has been transferred to the mayor’s office. » In 2008, an inspector general’s report blasted Lanier’s department for losing guns, drugs and cash with a decrepit evidence warehouse and sloppy management. Auditors said the department was failing “its mission [of] preserving the integrity of evidence” and that there was a “high risk that individuals may have inappropriate access and ability to alter data without detection.” » In 2009, the police union accused the department of dumping thousands of missing persons’ cases into moldering old boxes and leaving them haphazardly on floors and in closets. “It amazes me that, given we’re in the nation’s capital — and with all the resources available to us — this administration has been unable to move itself into the 21st century,” union chairman Kris Baumann said.
