MANKATO — Gov. Tim Walz stopped in Mankato Thursday, telling area law enforcement and elected officials he will push for full funding in this year’s bonding bill for a new Bureau of Criminal Apprehension facility in Mankato.
Walz and BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said the facility is needed to relieve pressure on the crammed St. Paul office and to give southern Minnesota law enforcement quicker and better service in analyzing crime evidence.
Evans said technology and forensic evidence have added staff, with the agency now having 22 digital evidence scientists alone. Their St. Paul office is designed for around 300 people but their staff is now 500.
He said the amount of evidence the BCA takes in is up 175% from 2010.
The new Mankato facility, which would be built just north of the Blue Earth County Justice Center, would initially have 50 professional staff to analyze evidence.
Walz has not yet released his bonding request to the Legislature, which convenes next month. But he said he will include in it the $48 million needed to build the Mankato facility.
The Legislature has already approved $4.5 million, which the BCA has used to purchase the nearly 6-acre lot and to do planning and design work.
The new facility would provide a range of evidence analysis, including digital forensic used on phones, computers and other digital devices and a firearms testing range.
Blue Earth County Sheriff Jeff Wersal said having a local facility would save a lot of deputy time. “If we have to analyze a cell phone we need to have someone drive it to the Cities and spend the day.”
Mankato Public Safety Director Amy Vokal said that while local law enforcement would love the convenience, it would especially benefit small-town police departments in the region. Those departments have little staff and sending someone to the Twin Cities to deliver and then retrieve evidence is a big burden on the departments.
Blue Earth County Attorney Pat McDermott said good forensic evidence is increasingly important when his office brings cases to trial.
He said jurors are affected by the “CSI effect,” where jurors expect the kind of forensic evidence they see on the popular CSI shows.
McDermott said he has talked to jurors after trial and heard some say they didn’t see enough scientific evidence so voted to acquit.