New crime lab facility for area setting up shop

Crime lab director Dr. Robert Briner says he's always run a professional operation.

Now he has the facility to back him up.

"It's a state-of-the-art lab," Briner said Wednesday of the new quarters for the Southeast Missouri Regional Crime Lab. "We've got rooms behind the rooms."

The lab, housed in a renovated, former Southeast Missouri State University warehouse in Cape Girardeau, is a major improvement over the cramped quarters of an old house on Henderson Avenue that served as the lab for the past 27 years, Briner said. It has about three times the space all on a single floor, compared to three floors in the old building.

The house on Henderson will be torn down for university campus parking.

Briner's former office was wedged into the basement of the dilapidated white house. Forensic equipment was crammed inside, and the small staff had little space to work.

But even that was better than the crime lab's original office, which was in a closet in the university's Magill Hall, Briner said.

Unpacking for work

The Southeast Missouri Regional Crime Lab finished moving into new quarters this week, but beyond the modern lobby, there's plenty of unpacking of equipment going on in numerous evidence testing rooms.

Briner said it likely will be September before the lab is fully operational. He's asked the police departments in Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Poplar Bluff and Farmington to hold off submitting evidence for testing for a few weeks while he and his staff get the lab up and running.

Steve Strong, Cape Girardeau's police chief, said that won't pose a problem for his department.

Briner said he and his staff started moving into the new lab about three weeks ago and finished moving in on Monday. The move has delayed evidence testing, he said.

"Normally we get most all drug cases processed in four weeks," Briner said. Those cases now are taking six to eight weeks, he said.

Morley Swingle, Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney, said the new lab is good news for prosecutors.

"It will make it much more difficult for any defense attorney to argue that the evidence is being contaminated," he said. That's particularly important in DNA testing of crime evidence, he said.

But Briner, who has been the lab's director since its inception in 1969, said the lab's testing procedures have not been an issue in court. He said the lab has a good reputation even with defense lawyers.

Staffing problems

The new 8,000-square-foot lab in the building at Ellis and Merriwether is long on space and short on staff, Briner said. The building has another 6,000 square feet available for future renovation. A police academy is expected to be housed there, he said.

The crime lab has a staff of six, including Briner.

"I could double the staff if I had the money," he said.

State budget cuts have slashed $40,000 from his $325,000 operating budget. The lab depends on state and local governments to pay its bills. Without increased local funding, the lab might have to cut staff next year. That would mean it would take longer for the lab to process evidence in a case, Briner said.

The lab handles about 3,000 cases a year in a 21-county area.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123