CRIME LAB RECEIVES HOPE

Funds Approved To Hire Help, Raise Pay

JACKSON - Thousands of aging murder, drug and drunken driving cases could
find new life this summer after the Mississippi Crime Lab begins adding an
extra 41 employees to its statewide staff.

A bill Mississippi lawmakers passed this year will give the agency $7.3
million to fund the salaries of new workers and give raises for veteran
employees, many of whom could find higher-paying jobs in other states.

"We still will have to wait and see what they are going to do on a
person-to-person basis," Mike Weaver, a toxicologist with the Crime Lab for
more than eight years, said this week. "Knowing I should get something makes
me feel better."

Weaver is one of 63 employees who work at Mississippi's only full-service
forensic laboratory, which analyzes crime-scene evidence for more than 400
law enforcement agencies across the state.

Much of the work on arson, murder, drug and drunken driving cases takes
place at the main lab in Jackson. Branch labs in Batesville, Gulfport and
Meridian analyze fingerprints and narcotics cases.

But the Crime Lab has been struggling with a chronic backlog of more than
9,000 cases, some of which are more than a year old. Weaver's toxicology
section alone now has a 1,000- to 1,100-case backlog.

As crime rises, work piles up

The reason is simple: While an increase in crime and arrests have given the
lab more cases, an outdated pay scale has made it tough to attract and keep
qualified employees to handle the larger workload.

So agency leaders and law enforcement officials asked state legislators for
more money. And after years of watching their efforts fail, lawmakers this
year finally agreed to help.

First, they gave the agency $7.3 million for the year starting July 1. The
agency's budget includes enough money to increase employees from 62 to 103
and to adjust current workers' pay to the southeastern average.

Then, legislators voted to borrow $3 million to add space to the crime lab's
building in Jackson. The new addition will house the lab's fingerprint,
document and crime-scene sections.

State Rep. Charlie Capps Jr., D-Cleveland, and chairman of the
budget-writing House Appropriations Committee, said he was determined to
help the Crime Lab after learning about the agency's problems.

"I really wasn't aware of it until I started reading about the problems in
the paper," Capps said. "I'm well satisfied now. If it's not enough (money),
we'll look at it again next year."

Agency needs new director

Cono Caranna, district attorney for Hancock, Harrison and Stone counties,
said the first thing the state must do is hire a permanent director for the
Crime Lab. The lab hasn't had a permanent director since 1991.

Caranna praised acting director Julia James' work. But, Caranna said, it's
time for the agency to have a permanent, full-time director who can properly
supervise and manage its resources.

Public Safety Commissioner Jim Ingram, who oversees the lab, said he is
continuing the search for a new director. He said the Legislature's action
will go far in helping to eliminate the agency's problems.

Ingram said about 50 people already have filed applications to fill the
agency's new slots. He said the Legislature's decision to boost funding is
"positive for law enforcement agencies across the state."

Tim Gross, a forensic scientist at the agency's Gulfport lab, agreed. Gross
earns about $40,000 a year after working at the agency for 17 years; he said
he could probably earn $55,000 to $60,000 in a similar job elsewhere.

"I'm optimistic," said Gross, whose expertise is in drug identification and
has about a 700- to 1,000-case backlog. "This is the best thing that has
happened to us in at least 10 years."

The funding bill is Senate Bill 3161; the building addition is House Bill
1672. Contact Capitol Bureau Chief Terry R. Cassreino in Jackson at (800)
303-4397 or at cassreino@webtv.net