Milford Mill Grad Leads Forensic Sciences Lab to Top Accreditation

Terry Long has worked for the for decades—she's the one who helped start its first DNA lab in 1989.

These days she is director of the division, headquartered in Pikesville. And on Wednesday, she and other State Police leaders applauded as the lab received the top honor for forensic labs: International accreditation.

Long, who is a graduate of Milford Mill Academy and a Reisterstown resident, gave credit for the recognition to her fellow workers at the lab.

"This feat is indeed a hallmark of a service, dedication and commitment of many; and provides the citizens of Maryland with confidence, assurance and insurance that the forensic services provided do meet those international standards of quality," Long said.

The whole division helped achieve the honor: Management, crime scene technicians, forensic scientists, staff in central receiving, the forensic photographer and support staff, she said.

The full-service lab in Pikesville, as well as the entire division, was accredited Wednesday by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board.

Besides the Pikesville lab, the division has two other State Police laboratories in Hagerstown and Berlin, as well as 13 crime scene offices at State Police barracks throughout the state.

The division was last accredited in 2005 under the accreditation board's Legacy Program. Since then, the Pikesville lab, located at 221 Milford Mill Road, was built and opened.

On Wednesday, the accreditation board honored Long for the division's  work, and honored Deputy Director Dan Katz of the Pikesville lab.

Katz, a resident of Maryland Line in Baltimore County, manages the lab in the Pikesville facility, overseeing the scientific analysis branch.

Also at the Pikesville lab, Capt. David Hopp, assistant commander, is in charge of crime scene and central receiving—the non-laboratory aspects of forensics, Katz said, noting that Hopp was not present at the ceremony.

The public should be proud of the division's achievement, Katz said after the ceremony.

"It's reassuring to the public that they can rely on us, and that we have a quality product for them, and it reinforces the dedication of everyone who works here."

The accreditation board reviewed each office of the division, including the staff's education and credentials, and many details about the laboratory's information.

International accreditation is "the highest level of accreditation available to forensic laboratories today," said Ralph Keaton, executive director for the accreditation board, who presented accreditation certificates.

Maryland State Police Superintendent Col. Marcus Brown congratulated the division.

"I appreciate the hard work of each person who is a part of this division and their sincere commitment to maintaining the highest standards of forensic science," he said.

After the ceremony, Long led a tour through the facility for members of the media.

Long began working with the State Police Crime Lab in 1981 as a forensic chemist, and later took a sabbatical as a visiting scientist for the DNA Section at the FBI Training Academy in Quantico, VA.

At Quantico she learned DNA technology before returning to the State Police in 1989 to set up its original DNA lab. The lab was up and running in the 1990s, Long said.

Later, she took a leave of absence to work for the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology DNA Identification Lab in Rockville, where she learned the new technology, then returned to work for the State Police.

After graduating from Milford Mill, Long earned her bachelor's degree in biology from Towson College, and her master's degree in biological sciences from the University of Maryland.

The lab headquarters in Pikesville "also houses Maryland's DNA database and is the state-level access point to the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS)," according to a State Police news release.

The database has more than 96,000 samples from convicted offenders, and has been used to identify criminals or connect crime scenes more than 2,300 times, the release states.

"The lab is the first full-service state or local, non-federal crime lab in Maryland to receive this level of certification."