The outgoing head of the Maryland State Police Forensic Sciences lab said the state will have to keep hiring scientists and support staff at a rapid pace to keep up with thousands of new DNA samples that will be collected under a new law.

John “Jay” Tobin, 62, told The Examiner this week that the state needs to continue its commitment to training and hiring personnel to meet increasing demand — especially once a state law takes effect in January allowing DNA to be collected from anyone charged with a violent crime.

“It’s going to put a lot of pressure on the people I left at the lab to get those tests done in a timely fashion,” Tobin said. “If they don’t, those suspects will go through the system and end up back on the street.”

To meet the demand and minimize the expensive outsourcing of DNA tests and processing crime-scene evidence, Tobin said, the state needs to hire scientists as well as support personnel. Fully processing a crime scene and checking samples against the DNA database can take months, requiring “triage” to get evidence ready for trial in time.

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“They’ve listened to our needs, but they need to keep it up each year — not just when the sudden need strikes them,” he said.

Terry Long, acting director of the lab, said the state has funded as many as 21 new lab positions that need to be filled to augment the current 83. A team of biologists that formerly assisted with crime scene investigations now focuses only on DNA testing, while another team works to find additional equipment so the lab can do more internal work.

“We’re definitely sorry to see [Tobin] go. ... I share his concerns in wanting the lab to continue its progress,” Long said.

Col. Terrence Sheridan, State Police superintendent, said that as many as 4,000 new DNA samples a year could be collected under the new law, but that hiring was keeping pace. “We’re not going to fall behind; we’re not going to build another backlog,” he said.

Although Gov. Martin O’Malley, Sheridan and Long announced Tuesday that the lab had recently made its 1,000th DNA match since 1994, she said the 2,000th match could come in as little as a year.

Tobin retired July 1 to teach full time in the forensic science master’s degree program at Stevenson University (formerly Villa Julie College), while also pursuing a doctorate in toxicology at the University of Maryland.

msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com