The massive backlog has been the subject of repeated legislative hearings, with victims and their families crying out for help. According to new data released by the Illinois State Police, the backlog has been cut in half, with DNA evidence from 4,857 cases awaiting testing at state crime labs as of Nov. 30, 2020, compared to 9,289 pending assignments on March 1, 2019.
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.