REGIONAL CRIME LAB WILL NEED MONEY FOR NEW HOME

The Southeast Missouri Regional Crime Laboratory is looking for a new home because of increased scientific police work and the university's plan to tear down its building on North Henderson.

The lab serves law enforcement agencies in 20 counties of Southeast Missouri, including the Missouri Highway Patrol.

It not only does in-house analyses of evidence in criminal cases, but staff members collect evidence at crime scenes. They also consult with local law enforcement agencies about evidence gathering. In addition, the lab recently expanded its DNA services to meet federal guidelines.

Its $250,000 budget mostly comes from fees collected from local law enforcement agencies for services like DNA analysis and other scientific work used in criminal investigations. About $75,000 of the lab's funding comes from the state.

Officials tout the lab as a cost-effective facility but say funding to relocate or expand it doesn't exist.

Joe Snowden said when he came to Southeast five years ago as the dean of the College of Science, plans were to build a new business building and tear down the house the crime lab occupies. Although construction of the business building has started, the lab's staff isn't in any danger of being evicted, he said.

"We understand that law enforcement agencies in our area need this lab," he said. "We're OK as far as them using that space for a few years. The pressure now is more from themselves -- they need more space -- than from the university, but ultimately the building will have to be torn down."

Ken Dobbins, the university's executive vice president, said the lab would have to be relocated in two or three years but funding for that relocation hasn't been discussed. He said a "brainstorming session" Sept. 22 between university officials, state Rep. Mary Kasten and other House members hopefully will yield ideas on funding.

The crime lab has been on the campus for 30 years, but the university has never financially supported it except to provide and maintain the house it occupies.

"They are doing an amazing job for law enforcement," Dobbins said. "The university is here to serve the region, and we're hoping to find funding that can be used to maintain the facility since it also serves the region. It's a top-rate facility that needs to be kept."

Kasten sent some of her colleagues in the Missouri House a letter asking for their ideas and attendance at the Sept. 22 meeting.

"We need to develop some long- and short-range plans to help insure that the SEMO Laboratory continues and can meet the needs of the Southeast area," she wrote in the letter.

Kasten also sent a copy of an Aug. 2 letter written by Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. M.E. Patrick of Troop E to the lab's director, Dr. Robert Briner, supporting the crime lab.

"It would simply be a major impact to local law enforcement agencies to close the lab," Patrick said Thursday. "It's important to the region and it's heavily used."

Lt. John Brown of the Cape Girardeau Police Department agreed: "They are critical for law enforcement in this area," he said of the lab. "They do virtually all of the scientific evidence in Southeast Missouri. I can't imagine operating without them."

University officials said the lab wasn't in any danger of closing. In fact, Snowden said, he would like to create a closer relationship between the lab and the university, perhaps offering a specialized course of study in the future.

"I'd like to keep it close to campus," Snowden said. "I would like to see a forensic science program years down the road."

Officials said they are faced with more questions than answers at this point. Perhaps after next week's meeting, more answers can be given, they said.