The Laboratory Accreditation Board has adopted four accreditation objectives (Source: ASCLD/LAB® 2001 Manual, reprinted with permission). These are to: - Improve the quality of laboratory services provided to the criminal justice system
- Develop and maintain criteria which can be used by a laboratory to assess its level of performance and to strengthen its operation
- Provide an independent, impartial, and objective system by which laboratories can benefit from a total operational review
- Offer to the general public and to users of laboratory services a means of identifying those laboratories which have demonstrated that they meet established standards
The Crime Lab has two units: Controlled Dangerous Substances (CDS: analysis of seized dosage unit drugs) and Forensic Biology with its Serology and DNA Sections. The Crime Lab provides Forensic Biology evidence examinations for the officers of the Anne Arundel County Police Department, and CDS evidence examinations for both the County Police and the Annapolis City Police Departments. In June 2001, after a comprehensive multi-day inspection, the Crime Lab was found to have successfully completed all requirements for ASCLD/LAB® accreditation of the Controlled Dangerous Substances (CDS) Unit and the Serology Section of the Forensic Biology Unit. In October 2002, at the end of extensive validation work on the latest DNA technology, the Lab’s DNA Section completed a rigorous four-day inspection and was found to be in compliance with the ASCLD/LAB® criteria required for accreditation, and thus, was awarded accreditation in forensic DNA analysis. As of November 2002, ASCLD/LAB® has accredited 218 crime labs in the United States and 11 international crime labs (Source: ASCLD/LAB® web site). The Anne Arundel County Police Crime Laboratory successfully achieved reaccreditation in 2006. The labs next inspection will be in 2011. | 
