CRIME LAB STRUGGLES WITH FUNDS; SERVICES MAY BE CUT DUE TO STATE DECREASE

Faced with state funding cuts, the Southeast Missouri Regional Crime Lab will have to reduce services unless cities and counties that use the facility can pick up the slack.

Robert Briner, director of the laboratory situated on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, said the $50,000 the state earmarked for the lab in its 1990-91 budget for the lab, this year was slashed to less than $22,000.

"The lab is funded in a joint effort between local governments and the state," he said. "We've been receiving state revenue since 1981, and basically that's gone down ever since that initial commitment."

Briner has asked some of the 85 different governmental entities in the lab's 21-county service region to increase their support.

The biggest contributor and most frequent user of the lab, also is one of its most ardent supporters.

For the past two years, the city of Cape Girardeau has paid $25,000 annually to the crime lab. And this year the city has earmarked $30,000 for the facility twice what was paid just six years ago.

Police Chief Howard Boyd Jr. said that although the city is pays the largest segment of the crime lab's $174,000 budget, the money is well-spent.

"It's not a bargain, but we're dealing with evidence we can go to court with, and we're dealing with highly skilled professionals who know what they're doing and have the necessary equipment," he said.

Boyd said that the department has used the crime lab in nearly 100 cases on pace with last year's total of 192. In 1990, the case load hit a high of 262, he said.

There are a couple reasons why the number has dropped since 1990. Boyd said the police department now does much of its own fingerprint lab work. Also, the city sends the lab less work from alcohol offenses.

Boyd said that each time someone is arrested on a charge involving alcohol, the courts require a lab test of the substance in question to insure that it's alcohol.

"We used to send it into the lab every time there was an arrest," he said. "But what we found is that a lot of these people would just plead guilty, and a lot of the lab work was wasted.

"What we do now is wait until they plead not guilty before it's sent up to the lab."

But although the department has cut down its use of the crime lab, it's no less indispensable, said Boyd.

The police chief said the "per-case" fee for the 192 cases the crime lab handled for the department last year was about $130.

"I think it's a fair fee, and the municipalities and counties that use the service are going to have to foot more and more of the bill, because the state is cutting funding," Boyd said. "It's absolutely essential to our work. There's no way we can get by without them."

Sgt. Tracy Lemonds, a detective who's in charge of the department's evidence division, said that without the local crime lab, police work that now takes only hours could take weeks.

"It's a lot quicker when you can send the evidence across town, than if you would have to send it to a private lab or across the state," he said.

Lemonds said lost "turn-around" time would be the worst consequence if the lab was forced to cut back services or shut down completely.

"We could still get the work done, but it would really back us up and adversely impact our effectiveness," he said.

Briner said the lab averages about 200 cases monthly. In 1969, the lab's first year of operation, there were only 50 cases, a number that climbed to about 2,500 in 1989. Last year, the number dropped to about 2,300, Briner said.

Over time, not only has the case load increased, but so has the need for new and better equipment.

"The sophistication of the cases and the equipment we have has increased every year," he said. "We have almost $500,000 invested in our laboratory."

With more cases, new equipment and technology and more agencies using the lab, the budget has naturally increased.

But at the same time, the state has continued to cut funding stifling further expansion of the crime lab's services.

A federal drug program administered by the state has provided matching funds of up to $60,000 for local contributions of $20,000. Briner said that although the grant money has compensated for some of the state funding shortfall, the program will end next year.

"In order to continue service, we've got to find some way to replace that," he said. "We've always been pretty tight and always tried to keep a pretty lean budget.

"But this last year we really had problems that were threatening the life of the laboratory."

Part of the solution will have to be addressed at Jefferson City, which too often neglects "out-state" Missouri while tax dollars are disproportionately funneled into St. Louis and Kansas City, Briner said.

"I do feel the state has a responsibility, because we're enforcing state laws," he said. "The state does have a responsibility to citizens of this area."

After the city of Cape Girardeau and the state, Cape Girardeau County is the third biggest contributor to the crime lab. But the county which last month budgeted $11,500 for the lab apparently has been more reluctant than the city to meet Briner's funding request.

Briner asked the county commission to increase its allocation from $10,200 to $15,000. Most of the other counties in the region give $5,000 to $7,000.

Last month, Briner pleaded with the Cape Girardeau County Commission to increase its contribution.

He said now he's hopeful the county will reconsider the issue. He also thinks the state might restore its previous funding levels for the laboratory.

"We have had some fairly positive response from the city and the county to increase their share of funding," he said. "And we're getting some positive indications that at least some of the state money's going to be brought back."

A special commission on crime established last year by Governor John Ashcroft recommended legislation that would earmark more money for the local lab, Briner said.

Until such legislation is a reality, though, the lab will continue to look for ways to provide new types of testing, such as for hospitals and insurance companies. "Those are all services that bring in fees," Briner said.

"Hopefully, between expanding our services and possible new legislation, we're looking for a long-term solution and not a one-time fix that we'd have to come back the next year looking again."