Major Case Squad gets new evidence-collection trailer

The Cape Girardeau/Bollinger County Major Case Squad has a new major vehicle at its disposal.

The squad recently was able to buy a mobile evidence trailer that can be taken to crime scenes and used for evidence collection and processing.

"It is mostly for any type of homicide that the Major Case Squad would be activated for," Cape Girardeau assistant police chief Mark Majoros said.

It also can be used in the case of any large crime scene, such as a bank robbery, he said. The trailer is large enough to transport all-terrain vehicles and other equipment that may be needed at rural locations, according to a Major Case Squad news release.

The 20-foot enclosed trailer is air-conditioned and can run off direct power or be powered by a generator, the release said, and was bought with money from the County Law Enforcement Restitution Fund. The total cost for the trailer plus equipment was $49,000.

The squad, with guidance from the County Law Enforcement Restitution Fund board, issued bids to three companies for the trailer.

As far as the equipment inside the trailer is concerned, Majoros said, "it's just all the equipment and things that we need to process a crime scene, which the police departments do on a regular basis anyway, so we just contacted those vendors."

In addition to the Cape Girardeau Police Department, the agencies that make up the Major Case Squad are the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department, Jackson Police Department, Southeast Missouri State University Police, the Bollinger County Sheriff's Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The vehicle is stationed in Cape Girardeau.

"I really wanted to thank the CLERF board and the support of the board of the directors from the Major Case Squad in us being able to purchase that item and equipment," Majoros said.

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