Growing meth problem puts strain on crime labs

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Missouri's network of crime laboratories is strained from testing evidence from growing numbers of methamphetamine cases and other crimes.

Compounding the problem, authorities say, is turnover among lab employees.

Capt. Stephen Hinesly, commander of the state patrol's lab, said low salaries make it difficult to retain qualified employees.

Criminalists, he said, 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.

He said three criminalists left in July alone.

"Most," he said, "left because salaries are higher in other states or at private labs."

Greene County Prosecutor Darrell Moore said his first priority is to ask the state Legislature to increase salaries for the criminalists in the Jefferson City lab. Ultimately, he said, 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."

Waits for test results can vary from region to region because of the way the lab network is set up.

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 located 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.

Concerns sometimes come from the agencies, such as the Greene County Sheriff's Department, that rely on the overworked and understaffed Missouri State Highway Patrol's crime lab.

A satellite lab at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield serves the Greene County Sheriff's Department. The satellite labs are limited, for the most part, to drug and alcohol cases and some fingerprint analysis. That means the Southwest Missouri State lab must transport 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."

Departments closer to Joplin that use Missouri Southern State College's regional 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. The regional labs can analyze most kinds of evidence.

"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."