ANCHORAGE - A former state crime lab employee is facing six felony charges.
Stephen Palmer, 53, is accused of stealing drugs and tampering with evidence. His bail has been set at $50,000.
Palmer worked at the old crime lab, located next to Alaska State Trooper headquarters, for nearly 20 years. He quit his job abruptly in 2011.
Palmer will be required to take drug tests as part of his bail conditions. When he worked at the State Crime Lab, however, drug testing was never a requirement. Some people think it should be.
State Crime Lab Director Orin Dym said the new lab has plenty of protections and security upgrades that would make it difficult for an employee to steal drugs.
One thing he thinks could prevent problems in the future is the ability to drug test crime lab employees. Right now that’s against state law, but Dym said he believes that should change.
“I believe we should be urine testing,” Dym said. “There has to first be an event to demonstrate that’s warranted, well, I believe we have had that event and now it’s time to pursue this and move forward.”
Dym said drug testing would help reassure the public that crime lab employees are honest and that drug cases analyzed there are accurate. It’s not clear what legal hurdles he will face to try and get the law changed so testing would be permitted.