Good idea or bad?
A nine member board of lawyers, academics and businessmen will be overseeing the new independent crime lab, which is due to tackle the enormous back log of untested rape kits that is presently being handled by the Houston Police Department.
State Representative Scott Hochberg, who's retiring, was elected the chair of the board and believes that having the crime lab as a separate entity is a good idea.
"Clearly the idea of setting up the crime lab as an independent entity is good for everybody, this way there's no question of influence by any party," says Hochberg.
But Councilmember Jack Christie, who was one of two councilmember’s who voted against the plan thinks the idea of an independent lab needs to be reevaluated.
"I voted against it to just send a message that we need to be doing this with the county, it would save the tax payers probably about twenty five million dollars," says Christie.
Mayor Annise Parker has pushed to make the crime lab independent from the county and the city to protect it from pressure from police and politicians.
