On Dec. 2, the Main Lobby of the Los Angeles Regional Crime Laboratory was named in honor of Rose Matsui Ochi, who was appointed the first executive director of the California Forensic Science Institute and played a pivotal role in the development of the Regional Crime Laboratory. Ochi passed away in December 2020, just two days shy of her 82nd birthday.

Pictured: Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villianueva, LAPD Chief Michel Moore, Darlene Kuba, Steve Cooley and Tommy Ochi, Rose’s husband.

Cooley, a former district attorney, and Kuba, a long-time friend of Ochi, were instrumental in working with the Los Angeles Regional Crime Laboratory Joint Powers Authority to make this happen.

Photos by MARIO GERSHOM REYES/Rafu Shimpo)

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