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c.
Proficiency Testing
The laboratory component of certification has been incorporated as profi-
ciency testing. Current standards require that a working analyst complete a
blind external proficiency test once a year. Proficiency testing complements
the written certification examination in that it demonstrates a minimum
level of competence. This is a concrete way that a laboratory and an analyst
may demonstrate to the lay world that they can perform the work with skill
and accuracy. It should be noted, however, that the very nature of proficiency
testing (the need for the provider to produce many identical samples) pre-
cludes it from testing any but the most minimal analytical and interpretation
skills. Also at issue is the question of how to establish reliability and consis-
tency among the test samples themselves. Regardless of the difficulty of
producing and disseminating such a test, the benefits to the profession and
to the criminal justice system are worthy of the effort.
 
2.
Accreditation
While certification addresses the competency of individual examiners,
accreditation is concerned with the larger scope of the laboratory in which
the criminalist works. Accreditation relates to laboratory-wide issues such as
evidence handling, validation, and institution of proper scientific protocols,
education and training, proficiency testing programs, and case review pro-
cedures. Laboratory accreditation is provided under the auspices of the
ASCLD. The program is managed and the standards established by the
ASCLD Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB), which is responsible
to a delegate assembly composed of the directors of all accredited laboratories.
 
a.
Philosophy of Accreditation
ASCLD/LAB has adopted four official accreditation objectives to define the
purpose and nature of the program:
1. To improve the quality of laboratory services provided to the criminal
justice system.
2. To develop and maintain criteria which can be used by a laboratory
to assess its level of performance and to strengthen its operation.
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Principles and Practice of Criminalistics
3. To provide an independent, impartial, and objective system by which
laboratories can benefit from a total operational review.
4. To offer to the general public and to users of laboratory services a
means of identifying those laboratories which have demonstrated that
they meet established standards.
Like individual certification, an outside review for accreditation serves to
identify criteria that can be used by a laboratory to assess its level of perfor-
mance and improve its operations. It is also an impartial means by which
those that depend on the laboratory’s services, as well as the general public,
can ascertain that a particular laboratory meets established standards. To
qualify for accreditation, the laboratory must demonstrate that it meets the
standards for management, operations, personnel, procedures, equipment,
physical plant, security, and health and safety procedures. The laboratory
analysts must also participate in a regular proficiency testing program.
Accreditation is granted for 5 years, provided that a laboratory continues to
meet the standard during this period. Both the initial accreditation, and
reaccreditation on a 5-year cycle, require a full review of the laboratory
including an on-site inspection.
Most recently, other organizations, notably the National Forensic Science
Technology Center (NFSTC), headquartered in Florida, have begun to offer
accreditation services. A new challenge will be to normalize the standards
proffered by the various organizations offering accreditation, and to institute
a means of establishing credibility for the accrediting bodies.