Okay... I am doing a little research for my writing, and I can't seem to get an answer to this:

Say, for example, a horrendous murder--no suspects--occurs in a small town like Greencastle or Shepherdstown... a place where they have two or three cops, but no crime lab or anything like that.

Does someone else come in and take over right away? Or does the Chief get first crack at it and just farms out the lab work? What happens if it's a serial killer who keeps killing over and over again? At what point would someone else step in?

Any info--even the basics--would be super helpful. I know I have some LE folks here.

Thanks, guys! Promise: if this turns into a best-selling novel, I'll mention you in the acknowledgements!

PF,

What are you writing?? Just curious, not to get too off-topic though!

The state police would generally be called in, in that situation, peacefrog. Although the local chief may not want them there, he would have a responsibility to notify them.

from my own experience,they'll also call in a Phorensic Pathologist from the Smithsonian.

Good Luck peacefrog!

You might do a search on the BTK serial killer case in Omaha.

It might give you an idea of what agencies became involved and when.

Thanks for the info! I guess movies like Fargo always give me the illusion that some small town police departments might be left on their own... at least, until things get really ugly.

Checkingin... I'm working on a couple of projects right now... including a horror novel about a giant cat that terrorizes a small town. At first it seems like it's a serial killer, and then it turns out to be a mutant, feral cat the size of a St. Bernard. Kinda Cujo turned feline. Great B-movie stuff.