New tool to help cops nab crooks

A thief wriggled through the window of a Charleston trucking company this month and snatched two computers before disappearing into the night.

But he also left something behind: drops of his blood.

Investigators hope this genetic clue will lead them to the thief. A federally funded pilot program may soon make that possible.

Charleston police are working with the Marshall University Forensic Science Center in West Virginia to analyze DNA evidence from burglaries, car break-ins and other property crimes. The yearlong effort, which begins Oct. 1, is part of a $3.3 million program at Marshall designed to assist crime labs. Funding comes from the National Institute of Justice.

The Charleston Police Department is leading the local effort because its crime lab is nationally accredited for collecting blood and other bodily fluids, said Judy Gordon, director of the city's forensic service division. Also involved are the Charleston County Sheriff's Office and police from North Charleston and Mount Pleasant.

"Property crimes are a quality-of-life issue," Gordon said. "This is a great opportunity to use a powerful analytic tool to solve these kinds of crimes."

Those involved hope the project is a first step toward establishing a regional DNA lab to boost crime-fighting efforts.

In the past, police have had few places to turn to analyze DNA evidence from property crimes. The State Law Enforcement Division's heavily used crime lab, like most state-run laboratories, focuses on testing DNA from homicides, rapes and other violent crimes. The demand for those services, and the resulting backlog of cases, can keep investigators waiting several months for test results. Property crimes take a back seat.

Two years ago, former Charleston County Coroner Susan Chewning led an effort to establish a regional DNA testing lab. Organizers secured funding, but the project stumbled when the host agency, the Carolina Medical Assessment Center, went out of business.

In researching alternatives, Chewning contacted the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center-Southeast in North Charleston, where officials were also mulling the regional crime lab concept. Center officials traveled to Marshall University in April to study its lab operation. The property-crime initiative emerged from that visit, said Bill Deck, technology center project manager.

Terry Fenger, director of Marshall's forensic center, said the university has already embarked on a similar project with Miami-Dade police in Florida, but he has no data yet on how that effort is faring.

Deck said the concept holds promise. In one Colorado city, police linked a husband and wife team to a 10-year string of burglaries through DNA analysis of cigarettes found at the crime scenes, he said. The Marshall program also offers the promise of a rapid turnaround for analyzing evidence, he said.

"If you can get the results in 30 to 45 days as opposed to six months, then you have a better chance of catching that person," he said. "By six months, that person may have moved on to another area."

Police are busy culling their cases looking for possible candidates to submit for testing, Gordon said.

They look for evidence left behind, such as drops of blood, or cigarette butts in a nonsmoker's house. In a recent case, Charleston police found latex gloves with possible DNA discarded by a man who broke into a West Ashley convenience store and stole cartons of cigarettes, Gordon said.

Given the mobility of thieves and their propensity for committing strings of crimes, an arrest in any of the area communities "is going to benefit us all," Gordon said.

The police agencies plan to submit 66 case samples to Marshall every six to eight weeks, Gordon said. The university's lab will test for DNA and, if successful, forward the results to SLED. The state crime lab will verify the findings and enter the genetic profile into the national DNA database for convicted offenders. They hope the system will find matches between known offenders and the crimes police want to solve, she said.

Charleston County Maj. John Clark said the sheriff's office is convinced the DNA testing program will help clear cases. "We think this is something long overdue in this area," he said.

Reach Glenn Smith at 937-5556 or gsmith@postandcourier.com.