Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) is a statewide criminal investigative bureau under the Minnesota Department of Public Safety that provides expert forensic science and criminal investigation services throughout the state of Minnesota. The BCA assists local, state, tribal, and federal agencies in major criminal investigations. It is headquartered in St. Paul. History. The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) was created by the Minnesota Legislature in 1927 in order to assist police departments statewide to solve crimes and apprehend criminals, under the direction of the Minnesota Attorney General's office. The BCA gathers crime  statistics to assist state and local agencies to identify criminal trends. In 1935, agents received full police power and were licensed police officers throughout the state. In 1947, the BCA Crime Lab was established in St. Paul to assist in solving of crimes via forensic science, and was one of the first DNA laboratories in the United States in 1990. Later the BCA was the first law enforcement agency in the United States to identify a suspect solely on DNA. In 1969, the agency was moved under direction of the State Attorney General's Office to the Minnesota Department of  Public Safety. In 2001, the BCA opened an additional forensic laboratory in Bemidji. In 2004, the Bureau became one of four laboratories in the United States selected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to serve as a regional mitochondrial DNA laboratory.