Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28) today attended the grand opening of the new $6.1 million Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Crime Lab with State Rep. Richard P. Raymond, DPS Director Steven C. McCraw, Mayor Pete Saenz, and other local and state leaders.

L-R: Representative Richard P. Raymond, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw and Congressman Henry Cuellar attend the new DPS Crime Lab in Laredo on Tuesday.

The crime lab is the result of teamwork between federal, state and local governments and will provide local law enforcement with the technology and personnel to process evidence here in town, rather than having to send materials to existing labs in Austin and Weslaco.

The new 17,537 gross square-foot crime lab accommodates 12 employees and will provide Laredo area law enforcement with services for controlled substance analysis, freezers for DNA preservation, ballistics testing and more.

It will reduce backlogs and allow law enforcement to speed up the rate at which cases can be analyzed and will help prosecutors get cases to trail faster in order to provide fast and accurate justice for the community.

Thanks to the help of Rep. Richard P. Raymond (D-Laredo), the 81^st Texas Legislature authorized funding for the construction of a new crime laboratory in Laredo.

On the federal level, Congressman Henry Cuellar secured an earmark in 2010 for $250,000 in the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, through the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) technology program.

Those funds were provided through a grant to the Webb County Sheriff’s Office and were used in the new crime lab facility for firing range equipment and support to provide safe and secure ballistic testing of evidentiary firearms at an approximate cost of $190,000.

The earmark also secured the purchase of a walk-in freezer for storage and preservation of DNA evidentiary samples at an approximate cost of $68,000.

“This crime lab is a great investment for the community.” said Congressman Cuellar. “With this new lab, local law enforcement and prosecutors will now have the capabilities and state-of-the-art technology to test, archive and present evidence. I thank Rep. Raymond, Texas Department of Public Safety Director McCraw and Sheriff Cuellar for their collaborative efforts in making this lab a reality.”

“I appreciate Congressman Cuellar getting us additional funding to make this crime lab even more effective and I am also proud that we are naming it after O.J. Hale who has given his life to serve our country and our community by working to protect the public safety of our city,” said Representative Richard P. Raymond

"Today's announcement is a historic moment in our great city. The unveiling of a building such as this one is testament of what happens when local, county, state and federal agencies work together for a common good," said Sheriff Martin Cuellar. "This new state-of-the-art facility will truly have a great impact in helping solve crimes in the Gateway City."