St. Louis County started construction on a new crime lab this afternoon and police say the facility will speed up processing time.
Department spokesman, Randy Vaughn, says the extra space will also give them the room they need for additional technicians to help take on a backlog of evidence.
“This is also going to allow a separation of all the different types of forensics, chemistry, biology, our evidence custodians, our firearm custodians,” Vaughn says. “That is going to make a vast difference in making sure we don’t have any type of contamination issues.”
Vaughn says department forensic scientists are currently working through about 3,000 cases.
“Anytime that you can lessen the length of time for a case to be closed the more bad guys we’re going to get off the street,” Vaughn says.
The 30,000 square foot lab will be located at Police Department Headquarters in Clayton and is set to be completed by the end of next year.
Follow Tim Lloyd on Twitter: @TimSLloyd
