Law Enforcement Resources

The Oregon State Police Forensic Services Division (FSD) laboratory system is accredited by ANAB (ANSI National Accreditation Board) to internationally accepted standards. Some of these accreditation standards have recently changed and necessitate a customer communication and agreement. This letter details specific information regarding confidentiality, reporting of results, and selection of testing methods that will be agreed to with every login to the Laboratory Online Information System (LOIS) and by a signature on the current version of the Forensic Services Request Forms when a request for laboratory analysis is submitted.

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This page, developed for our customer agencies, will continue to grow and change to share information as the field of forensic science is expanding at a rapid rate.

The value of properly collected physical evidence followed by examination and interpretation by the forensic laboratory cannot be over-emphasized. New techniques and procedures are constantly being developed, providing new capabilities or refinements to existing capabilities. Techniques, procedures, and capabilities contained herein may change in the future.

All agencies are encouraged to keep in regular contact with their local laboratory to stay informed of any changes.

Physical Evidence Manual

The purpose of this manual is to educate our customers in the Criminal Justice System regarding the services provided by the Oregon State Police Forensic Services Division, and the recommended methods of documenting, collecting, and preserving physical evidence to ensure the best analysis results.

Support to Oregon Missing Persons Program

We partner with the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification (UNT) to process and upload missing person DNA profiles into the national CODIS system at no cost to law enforcement agencies or families. All missing person samples from Oregon will be processed by UNT.

The following types of samples related to missing person cases can be submitted to UNT:

Direct DNA samples (toothbrushes, razors, etc. known to be used by a missing person)
Oral swab standards from biological family members (“Family Reference Standards”)

Steps for Successful Submission of Evidence

Enter your missing person into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) This will generate a NamUs Missing Person (“MP”) profile number.
Why? The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) provides an opportunity for families, law enforcement agencies and investigators to search nationwide for missing persons using a variety of powerful search features. Anyone may search the database, but by registering in the system both law enforcement professionals and the general public will also be able to:
- Add new missing persons cases
- Add physical and circumstantial details, photographs, dental contacts and other critical pieces of information to a case
- Create and print missing persons posters
- Track multiple cases as information is added to the system
Law enforcement is now required to enter their missing person into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) before submitting samples to UNT. UNT’s Missing Persons Reference Sample Submission forms will always ask for a NamUs “MP” profile number upon submission of any missing person evidence; it’s that important! Oregon State Police uses the NamUs website extensively to discover investigative leads and to find associations between missing persons and unidentified remains.
If you need help entering your missing person case into NamUs, please call the Medical Examiner’s Office Human Identification Program (Nici Vance) for assistance at 971-673-8202.

Complete the UNT paperwork. Make sure to include the NamUs “MP” profile number on page one for cross-referencing.
Family Reference Samples (FRS) for Missing Person Investigations: Family Reference Samples: UNT Paperwork
Direct Reference Samples (toothbrushes, etc.) for Missing Person Investigations: Direct Reference Samples: UNT Paperwork

Submit the evidence and the completed paperwork to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification. The address is at the top of the UNT submission form.

Laboratory Online Information System (LOIS)

WHAT IS LOIS?
LOIS, or Laboratory Online Information System, is a web-based tool provided to customers of the Oregon State Police Forensic Services Division that allowing users to check the status of lab requests and retrieve signed copies of final lab reports. In addition, LOIS includes communications with OSP’s law enforcement partners and allows printing of ICP certifications and assessments.

WHO CAN ACCESS LOIS?
Anyone who is a member of a law enforcement agency serviced by OSP’s Forensic Services Division who needs access to the work done on behalf of their agency.

ESTABLISHING A LOIS ACCOUNT
Contact your local agency administrator to establish an account. If you do not know who your agency administrator is, or if you want to arrange access for your agency, contact the OSP LOIS administrators at lois.info@osp.oregon.gov

ACCESSING LOIS
If you receive an email notifying you that a report is available in LOIS, you may click directly on the link in the email or go or access LOIS directly here: https://xn.osp.state.or.us/LOIS/Login.aspx

To log in, type your User Name and Password and click the Log In button or press Enter.
To leave LOIS, click Logout on the top navigation menu within any of the screens within the program.
If you have forgotten your password or user name, or your login has been inactivated, click the link on the login page to reset your account. You can also contact your local administrator for help resetting your account.

FORENSIC DOCUMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Once you log into LOIS, you will be on the “Home” screen. From here, you can view any current announcements as well as documents such as communications to law enforcement partners and the OSP Forensic Services Request Form (Form 49).

SEARCHING FOR A CASE
Click on the Case Search tab on the top navigation menu to search via the available fields shown below When Begin Search is pressed; the system will search for case information based on the criteria entered by the user.

When searching via the Forensic Lab Case Number, enter the two digit year, the originating laboratory’s letter designation, a hyphen, and sequential number (e.g., 18A-3124).

When searching via the Agency Case Number, enter only numbers and place a hyphen between the year designation and the subsequent number, and drop all leading zeroes. For example, 1800007890 would be entered as 18-7890.
Searches may also be conducted using persons listed on the evidence submission documentation.

To conduct another search, select Back to Search Screen. If you are unable to locate a request or case information in LOIS, do the following:

Verify that an analytical request has been made to the forensic lab and has not been canceled. Try entering less information in your search criteria as there may be a difference between the information you have and what was provided to the laboratory.
Verify you are searching for information that you have rights to view.

Read more about accessing and using LOIS in our newsletter.

Trainings, Webinars, and Newsletters

Oregon Regional Forensic Academies
Held in various locations across Oregon each year, these classes provide training to local law enforcement in the identification, collection and preservation of evidence. They are designed for new investigators or as refreshers to more experienced officers.

Instructor: Brad Telyea

Webinars