The Georgia Bureau of Investigation this week named a successor to its retired head of crime lab operations.
Cleveland Miles, a forensic scientist and 19-year veteran of the GBI, takes over the job from Kathy Lee. Miles will be tasked with overseeing all lab operations for the agency, which does testing for its own cases and those of police and sheriffs’ departments around Georgia.
Among other things, Miles will be tasked with reducing the lab’s backlog of cases. The backlog has been attributed to the opioid epidemic and more officer-involved shooting cases in recent years. Both factors have led to significant increases in the number of times the GBI is asked by local agencies to assist with testing.
The GBI now has about 36,110 cases it considers part of the backlog. In mid-2018 the number was 32,080, a huge jump from just a few years earlier.
The GBI operates seven labs around the state, but most don't offer the full range of tests required by many cases. Only the main lab located outside Decatur has scientists trained in all areas, such as chemistry, firearms, DNA, fingerprints, toxicology and trace evidence.
The crime lab is one of three divisions that make up the GBI, including the Georgia Crime Information Center and the investigative division.
Before taking the helm, Miles worked his way up from lab assistant.
