The Pennsylvania State Police crime lab has yet to fully recover after thousands of files were deleted in January. The state police chief said about 87% of the deleted data has been restored. Christopher Parris testified Monday before the House Appropriations Committee. Officials cannot say without a doubt that no criminal case will be unaffected. “We are working diligently with the 217 people in our lab to ensure that we are having an impact.” “We are reconstructing these events as best we can and moving forward. We are not in a position to fully assess the impact,” Parris said. Parris stressed that there were no breaches and no evidence was lost or mishandled. Seth Grove, R-York, asked if data deletion would prevent the lawsuit from proceeding, but Parris said, “I don’t want to guarantee 100% that there will be no impact.” “However, it is our belief at this time that there is not a single piece of evidence that we can publicly confirm and dismiss the charges. However, the ultimate impact remains to be seen.” Police are currently investigating two cases. One administrative official and one detective are investigating the data deletion. The Governor’s Office said the deletion was due to human error.
The Pennsylvania State Police crime lab has yet to fully recover thousands of files after they were deleted in January.
The state police chief said about 87% of the deleted data has been restored.
Col. Christopher Parris testified Monday before the House Appropriations Committee.
The agency cannot say with certainty that there will be no impact on criminal cases.
“We are working diligently with the 217 people within our institute to ensure that we can reconstruct these cases as best we can and move forward. We are not in a position to fully assess the impact. ” Paris said.
Parris stressed that there were no violations and no evidence was lost or mishandled.
Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, asked whether data deletion would prevent the lawsuit from moving forward.
“I’m not going to give you a 100% guarantee that there will be no impact,” Parris said. “However, it is our belief at this time that there is no evidence whatsoever to warrant us publicly acknowledging that the charges should be dismissed. However, the ultimate impact remains to be seen. ”
State police are currently conducting two investigations into the data deletion: an administrative investigation and a criminal investigation.
The Governor’s Office said the deletion was due to human error.
