Steve, when you're talking about forensic evidence it really depends upon who's collecting it as to whether it will be turned in. Quite honestly, a lot of your older police officers just see these cases as an excuse for paperwork. One police officer I've met described the whole analysis of forensic evidence as "geek stuff." A few of the younger guys who have gotten degrees and have been exposed to the whole CSI thing are a lot more conscientious. From the lab standpoint, a lot of incoming evidence just sits in the backlog until it can be analyzed. So it could be months before the evidence is actually looked at. Forensic labs are consistency understaffed and underfunded. (So what you see on CSI isn't how it actually is.) Plus, there is now the stress of choosing between hiring new people and having your lab be accredited which can mean that the money has to be spent on adding structural features to the lab for security or developing new quality assurance protocols. In addition, without having additional evidence to make a comparison may make having the genetic evidence not very probative. I'm not sure whether every DNA lab has access to the CODIS database as well. I honestly think that not all police officers are trained to collect genetic evidence as well. As far as the fingerprints, that is an equally backlogged section although there is the chance of matching crime scene latent prints with DMV records or previous arrest records. Azrael, unfortunately a lot of times cops are more willing to do stuff if they know you. A lot of cops/detectives have the idea that they are the only ones who do anything and the world would just fall apart if they weren't out on their beat instead of responding to your call. The idea that a suspect needs to be caught in the act is BS. Otherwise, nothing would ever be solved. My suggestion is that you call the laboratory itself and have them send someone out. You pay taxes so they should come out. ****There may be toolmarks from the crowbar the guy used to break in. The forensic science community is a small world. Tell me what city you live in and I'll see if I have a contact for you.