SEMO REGIONAL CRIME LAB JOINS DRUGFIRE NETWORK

The SEMO Regional Crime Lab on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University can now link, via computer technology, firearms-related evidence -- cartridge cases, bullets and guns -- to serial shooting investigations.

The automated computer technology program, called DRUGFIRE, was installed in the SEMO Regional Crime Lab in late May, making it one of six sites in Missouri with this type of technology.

Since then, the first "cold hit" in Missouri has been made, according to Dr. Robert Briner, crime lab director. A firearm used in a St. Louis murder was linked with a St. Louis County assault case, although no arrests have been made and no firearms have been recovered in either case. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, Firearms Identification Section, made the hit, Briner said.

The SEMO crime lab is hooked up to the program via a single server in Topeka, Kan. DRUGFIRE is installed or scheduled for installation in 68 firearms laboratories, representing 16 networks in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

DRUGFIRE has linked more than 900 pairs of shooting investigations nationwide since its inception in 1992. In several instances, DRUGFIRE has been responsible for the identification, arrest, prosecution and conviction of violent criminals.

"It's quite impressive," Briner said. "We're very pleased to be a part of it."