Westmoreland County DA receives $497,000 for digital forensic lab

GREENSBURG, Pa. — The Westmoreland County District Attorney’s office will have new resources to properly establish a digital forensic lab.

Technology for the lab will be purchased with money provided by a $497,000 grant provided by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

Westmoreland County Commissioners approved the project on Thursday.

The district attorney’s office has relied on the Westmoreland County Attorney General’s Office, Pennsylvania State Police and a third-party company to help them establish digital forensic evidence in the past. The district attorney believes the new lab will help them solve crimes quicker.

All Westmoreland County police departments will have access to the lab.

“This is such an amazing opportunity and resource for our county and all of our law enforcement agencies. By having our own state-of-the-art digital forensic lab in Westmoreland County we will be able to increase productivity and crime clearance rates,” Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole W. Ziccarelli said. “This will also save the county and our budget approximately $51,000 a year based on the average cost of outsourcing these services. Furthermore, the upstart cost of the equipment and digital forensic analyst position is entirely covered by grant funding.”

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