New Crime Lab Opens At Stewart Airport

A new state-of-the-art state police forensic science lab opened up on Monday at Stewart International Airport.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey teamed up with New York State Police to build the lab. Construction of the lab is in exchange for a continued police presence at Stewart airport by New York State Police. State Police have been on the grounds at Stewart since the 1970s

The $10 million dollar state-of-the-art lab will replace the old lab and continue to serve agencies from the Hudson Valley down to Long Island.

The Times Herald Record Reports, each year chemists at the Stewart Airport lab will analyze close to 1,250 narcotics case submissions. Toxicologists will analyze data from around 450 drunk- or drugged-driving cases. The lab also plans to process about 3,500 evidence submissions which will be further examined at the main state police lab in Albany.

The Stewart Airport lab is not yet fully operational. Most of the new equipment is installed and ready for use, but some equipment still needs to be moved from the old lab.  The state-of-the-art lab should be completely up and running by December.