GROWING METH USE, PRODUCTION PUT STRAIN ON STATE'S CRIME LABS

A growing crime problem, especially the proliferation of methamphetamine
use and production, is straining Missouri's network of crime laboratories,
including the regional lab at Missouri Southern State College.

But, law enforcers in counties around Joplin say they have it good compared
with their counterparts elsewhere in the state. Agencies such as the Greene
County Sheriff's Department, almost entirely dependent on the Missouri
State Highway Patrol's crime lab and its satellite operations, are more
reliant on the overworked and understaffed system.

A satellite lab at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield
serves the Greene County Sheriff's Department. It can analyze evidence only
from drug and alcohol cases, meaning the department must transport all
other evidence to Jefferson City, about three hours from Springfield.

"On rare occasions, we've had to send evidence to a private lab because we
needed the results in a more timely manner," said Green County sheriff's
Capt. George Larbey. "For most meth labs, 60 to 90 days is the standard for
getting the results back from the state."

Representatives of departments closer to Joplin that use Missouri
Southern's crime lab say they have to wait for results, but it hasn't
become a problem like it is for some departments that rely on the state.
"Usually, with most drug lab cases, we get results within 30 days from
Missouri Southern's lab," said McDonald County Sheriff Robert Evenson. "Of
course, the more complicated the analysis required, the more time it takes.
But there have been very few, if any, times when I've seen a case delayed
by the crime lab."

Phil Whittle, director of Missouri Southern's crime lab, said the average
wait for results from a typical methamphetamine manufacturing operation is
42 days.

He said that turnaround time, while better than at some labs, is still
longer than the goal of 30 days, which is considered desirable by lab
directors across the state.

"The increased analytical demands have drastically increased the
turn-around time for processing cases and have increased our backlog,"
Whittle said in a written report. "Our current staff is sometimes unable to
provide the courts with the required analytical results within the desired
time frame; cases are often postponed until the laboratory reports are
available. The crime laboratory is therefore the 'bottle neck' in the
timely adjudication of criminal cases.

"The primary goal of all crime laboratories in Missouri involves reducing
the turn-around time for the analysis and reporting of criminal evidence; a
target time of 30 days is desirable for controlling drug cases."

MSSC's lab serves more than 40 agencies in nine counties, from McDonald and
Barry counties in the south to Bates County in the north. It also serves
six agencies in Kansas.

Whittle said agencies that use MSSC's lab pay an annual fee that is based
on how much they used the lab in the year before.

Network of Labs

Law enforcement agencies across Missouri are served by a system of labs
that includes the Missouri State Highway Patrol's headquarters lab in
Jefferson City, and its network of satellite labs in Springfield, Willow
Springs, Macon, Park Hills and St. Joseph. Regional labs are in place in
Joplin, Cape Girardeau, Kirksville and Kansas City.

St. Charles County and the cities of St. Louis and Independence have crime
labs that serve the agencies in those jurisdictions alone. Agencies outside
those jurisdictions and far from a regional crime lab send their evidence
to the Jefferson City lab for analysis.

That lab and the regional labs can analyze most kinds of evidence. The
satellite labs are limited for the most part to drug and alcohol cases and
some fingerprint analysis.

Whittle said Missouri Southern's lab can analyze evidence including latent
fingerprints, blood and other body fluids, hair and fibers, firearms
evidence, gunpowder residue, explosives residue, DNA evidence and
impressions evidence.

Whittle said he sends handwriting and some fingerprint evidence to the
state lab for analysis.

In his written report, recently submitted with a grant application, Whittle
described the lab's "positive effect on the criminal justice system and
public safety of the community."

"The regional lab can be more responsive to the needs of local departments
because of the closer proximity to the police and sheriff's departments and
to the courts involved in the adjudication of the cases," he wrote.
"Laboratory personnel are often asked to aid investigators at major crime
scenes throughout the region; this support role also serves an important
training role in crime scene processing.

"The availability of forensic support in the community often helps criminal
investigators decide the course of an investigation."

Backlog and Turnover

Whittle said the backlog of cases for analysis at MSSC's lab stands at
about 550.

Capt. Stephen Hinesly, commander of the state patrol's lab, said the
backlog at the headquarters lab stands at a little more than 3,000 cases,
and that the satellite labs have about 1,000 cases awaiting analysis.

"One of our big problems has been retention of people," Hinesly said.
"Nineteen out of 46 criminalists had left our employment in 2000 and 2001.
When someone leaves, the replacement person has to be trained for six
months to a year before they are fully effective.

"We lost three criminalists in July alone. Most left because salaries are
higher in other states or at private labs."

Hinesly said criminalists make about $26,000 a year to start at the Highway
Patrol lab. He said a regional survey showed that Missouri is near the
bottom among surrounding states in what it pays criminalists.

Whittle said his lab has five criminalists, compared with more than 40
employed at the state lab.

"We've had turnover as well, but not for the same reasons as the lab in
Jefferson City," said Whittle, citing routine attrition as the cause.
"Until recently we had very little turnover, but we've had more in recent
years."

Whittle said training is important and time-consuming for new people hired
at the lab. He said most criminalists he hires have degrees in biology or
chemistry, but no practical experience in forensic science.

Whittle said he has his own training protocol, and it takes six months to a
year to train a criminalist to the point where he or she is ready to
analyze evidence without supervision.

Greene County Prosecutor Darrell Moore said his first priority is to ask
the state Legislature to increase salaries for the criminalists in the
patrol's laboratory in Jefferson City.

"That's our first issue, increasing salaries," Moore said. "The lab keeps
losing people, and the main thing we can do to stop that is to bring
salaries to the point where they are competitive with surrounding states."

Ultimately, Springfield officials would like to build a regional lab that
could investigate and analyze a wide spectrum of crimes and evidence.

"Drug crimes are not a problem here," Moore said. "We still get results
from drug tests and analysis in a good and timely manner. Where we get
frustrated is the homicide cases that are still open because of delays in
getting reports from the crime lab. I don't blame (lab officials) for the
problem. It's really something they have no control over."

Moore said officials want a lab with at least 11 examiners in a new
building with state-of-the-art equipment for analyzing DNA evidence,
firearms evidence, drug evidence, bodily fluids and other evidence.

He said officials have determined such a lab would cost about $5 million to
$6 million to start, and at least $1.5 million annually in salaries alone
to maintain.

Moore said federal grants and local money may be available, but he expects
the state would operate and maintain the lab.

"I don't think there is much resistance to the idea," he said. "It's
obvious there is a need here."