St. Louis County Crime Lab

Over the past ten years, the St. Louis County Crime Laboratory caseload has grown significantly. Forensics and lab requests are growing because of new testing requirements and the success rate of convictions where scientific evidence is introduced. To accommodate the increased caseload and improve efficiency, the County consolidated crime lab functions in an unused portion of the County’s Police Headquarters facility.

To develop the transformation of abandoned space to modern laboratories, the County engaged Hastings+Chivetta Architects. Laboratories were created on the third and fourth floors in space that formerly housed a kitchen and jail cells. The renovation doubled the size of lab space for the County, and included biology/DNA, chemistry, trace evidence, fingerprint analysis, firearm/toolmarks, and photo/video laboratories.

A Vehicle Processing Bay sized for three vehicles is also included, supported by a processing laboratory and office space. The new Crime Laboratory is organized to minimize disruption from the new firearm testing range, as well as to provide staff offices that are separate from laboratory environments. Public access to this area is limited to keep in-process and stored evidence secure and protected.