Chapter 689 A wave of unrest
The so-called countermeasures are of course nonsense. To put it bluntly, they are to quickly get the NYPD’s public relations department into action and clear away the responsibilities first. It’s hard to say which cases will be involved now, but roughly The time frame can still be estimated.
The supplier of the pack of cotton swabs in Jack's hand is called "White Tip Cotton Company". About a month ago, it won government contracts from New York City and several surrounding cities, and is responsible for reporting to the police in these cities. Crime laboratories and some other departments supply swabs.
Of course, the business of this company is not limited to this, but the FBI found that in order to cope with these new contracts, they opened a cotton swab processing factory in Brooklyn, New York, which is where Jack and Mike Taylor's destination.
If it can be determined that the problem does lie in this newly opened cotton swab processing factory, then it can be basically determined that the contaminated cotton swabs flowed into various crime laboratories in the past month or so.
This is also consistent with the data update time of the DNA information database. In other words, even without Sheldon Hawke's small mistake, it would not have been too long before this problem was discovered.
The problem now is that although the estimated time range is only more than a month, which does not sound like a long time, it is actually not short. In terms of the busyness of the CSI laboratory, as the person in charge, Mike Taylor only estimates that there are more than 200 cases related to this potentially contaminated DNA evidence.
Among them, involving serious cases, at least thirty or forty cases were convicted based on single DNA evidence, which means that they correspond to at least thirty or forty serious criminals.
This is still a small amount. You must know that there is not always only one suspect in some cases.
“Considering that the procurement of these swabs involves government contracts, what are the chances that the NYPD will stay out of it?” Jack asked Mike Taylor while driving a Dodge Hellcat through the traffic.
Of course, this was just a euphemistic question. He couldn't directly ask the boss of the CSI New York Laboratory next to him if he would be implicated.
“Based on my understanding of Director Reagan, the pressure should not be passed on to me, but some people may not let this opportunity pass by, and may add insult to injury, whether it is the media or the public’s perception of the city government. Whether too much or too little is invested in this area, politicians will always find reasons to criticize and shirk responsibility."
Mike Taylor is not a nerd sitting in a laboratory, even if he is. Like Frank Regan, he is not keen on politics and just wants to take care of his own land, but this does not prevent him from understanding it.
He responded to Jack's concern very straightforwardly. In theory, the NYPD and its affiliated CSI laboratory are also victims, but the public obviously does not think so.
While they are afraid of criminals who may be released back into society, they subconsciously want to know who the "culprit" is that caused all this.
When faced with this kind of problem, the public does not have much thinking ability. They will naturally believe in the guidance of the media and public opinion, especially those smart people who think they have "independent thinking ability". They are conspiracy theorists. Natural audience.
Obviously, it is self-evident who the city government and politicians who should be responsible for this will use as the scapegoat. This is why Jack and Mike Taylor asked Danny to inform them before they had fully determined the problem. Because of his father and sister.
The machines are rumbling and the workers are busy working non-stop. Even in this winter in New York, this dilapidated, crowded and cramped factory is a bustling scene.
Even if the person in charge of "White Tip Cotton" had the courage to ask Mike Taylor, who holds the NYPD badge, to produce a search warrant, he could only stand aside when faced with Jack's FBI credentials. He had realized something.
How many steps are there in total to process cotton and plastic sticks into a cotton swab? To be honest, Jack didn't know, but he knew one thing. Ordinary disinfection methods can kill bacteria, but they cannot eliminate DNA residues.
Seeing a little girl who was obviously still underage using her ungloved hands to comb the cut cotton strips, Jack and Mike Taylor looked at each other and felt enlightened.
“It’s not just this.” Jack waved his hand in the air, and the flying cotton fibers were clearly visible under the light. Some workers at other workstations also touched their faces with gloved hands from time to time. and nose, he even heard someone sneezing, and no one here was wearing a mask.
“I’m surprised that such a small workshop can actually win government contracts.” Jack even couldn’t bear to look directly at Mike Taylor’s dark face.
Underage child labor is employed, labor protection measures and fire protection measures are almost zero. As for the issue of residual DNA, it seems to have become a small "problem". When did this small broken workshop explode into the sky? Jack wouldn't be surprised.
The original hope of finding an omission in a key link and eliminating a single DNA error has been in vain.
However, the CSI laboratory still tried its best to make technical remedies. The factory director handed over a list of all people who may have come into contact with the cotton. Several CSI experimenters who came urgently collected the DNA of these workers for use. Check. These professional tasks still have to be left to professionals. Fortunately, the CSI laboratory is not a genetic laboratory that only does DNA testing. If there is a problem with the DNA evidence, the court may refuse to accept it, but other physical evidence such as trace evidence testing, Fingerprints and the like can still be used as evidence in court.
When Jack finally finished writing the report and officially handed over the criminal drug dealer and killer Marcia Vazquez to the federal prosecutor's office, three days had passed. After that, the situation finally became clear.
"So, our mayor and the NYPD stand together this time?" After listening to Dana Moge's story in her office, and combining it with recent news reports, Jack roughly understood it. current situation.
Although the CSI Laboratory tried its best to make remedial measures, and various district prosecutors' offices also worked in advance, a group of serious criminals were still successfully exonerated. For a time, the entire New York City was panicked, and public opinion was even more intense. .
"This afternoon the mayor will jointly hold a press conference with the NYPD and the City Council's Public Safety Committee. Frank hopes that you can go to his office before that."
The FBI New York office was not involved. In this turmoil, after all, with someone's style of handling cases, most criminals would not be able to go to court. As for a few cases, DNA will never be the only evidence of conviction, so this time the female boss's face was quite good. good.
"OK, but after this incident is over, I need to leave New York for a few days and go to Virginia Beach." Jack is not bargaining for a vacation, he has serious things to do.
Dana Moger naturally knew what he was thinking, "Are you really sure you can directly recruit a special forces soldier from the SEALs?"
"Maybe, it depends on luck." The time agreed upon with Jason Hayes was almost over, and Jack planned to contact him again in a few days.
After leaving Dana Moage's office, Jack went directly to the NYPD headquarters alone. Hannah was recently assisting the FBI White Collar Crime Division in investigating a financial fraud case. Not only did this kind of case usually involve a shockingly high amount of money, but in New York's financial world, It happens every day in big cities.
This is also one of the daily cases of the FBI New York office. The number even exceeds the ordinary criminal cases, but Jack is not interested in it. It not only involves energy but also takes a long time. The key is that it is not used in most cases. Load the gun.
Arrived outside Frank Regan's office, Jack was surprised to see Eileen Regan who was also waiting outside the office, and he roughly guessed the reason why the director was looking for him.
As expected, it didn’t take long for Frank’s blond secretary to come out with a prosecutor in a suit and tie. After seeing him off, she signaled the two of them to wait, and walked quickly to the door of the office.
"Who's next?" Frank's voice came from the office.
"A certain Manhattan District Attorney or Agent Tavole from the FBI, which one do you want to meet first, sir?" Baker, the female secretary, had a smile on her face.
Frank breathed a sigh of relief, "Let's go together, I invited Jack."
The two walked into the office together. Jack very gentlemanly asked Erin to sit down first, and then sat down He sat on the sofa chair next to her, and then the female secretary Baker brought coffee.
"Two candies without milk, right, Agent Tavole?"
"Thank you, just call me Jack, beautiful Miss Baker." Jack raised his eyebrows, He calmly faced Eileen's eyes that were a bit gossipy.
He didn't really know Frank's secretary very well before, but Mr. Director was a very busy man. Every time he came to see him, he would often have to wait outside the office for a long time, and he had to talk to him several times.
Frank seemed not to have seen anything and looked at his daughter Irene in a businesslike manner, "Prosecutor, tell me about the situation at the Manhattan District Attorney's office."
"We targeted four The prisoners who requested retrial have resubmitted new evidence, and they will continue to be detained without bail." Irene put the thinner of the two folders in her hand on the desk in front of him.
Frank's slightly drooped eyelids twitched. He said it was a good idea, but he looked solemnly at the thick document in her hand, "So what's the bad news?"
(End of Chapter)