RECENT REPORTING ON SPECTACULAR CRIMES HAS SPREAD THE BELIEF THAT THE COLLABORATION BETWEEN FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCIES IS INSUFFICIENT. HOWEVER, STATE AGENCIES USE THE FEDERAL IDENTIFICATION SERVICES (E.G., GRAPHOLOGY IDENTIFICATION, WEAPON IDENTIFICATION, LOCK AND KEY IDENTIFICATION), AS WELL AS FEDERAL EXPERT TESTIMONIES IF THEIR OWN EXPERTS ARE INSUFFICIENT OR UNAVAILABLE. FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCIES COLLABORATE IN THE TRAINING OF FORENSIC EXPERTS BY JOINTLY SPONSORING TECHNICAL TRAINING PROGRAMS, HIGHLY SPECIALIZED WORKSHOPS, LEADERSHIP CONFERENCES, AND STATE-OF-THE-ART REVIEWS. IN FORENSIC RESEARCH, STATE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES HAVE COMMITTED THEMSELVES TO JOINT PROJECTS SUCH AS THE NARCOTICS DATA POOL AND A DATABASE STORING THE RESULTS OF THE MICROSCOPIC ANALYSIS OF GLASSES, VARNISHES, AND TEXTILES. HOWEVER, SOME AREAS OF COOPERATION NEED IMPROVEMENT. SINCE MANY STATE AGENCIES ARE INSUFFICIENTLY STAFFED, THE FEDERAL AGENCIES ARE FLOODED WITH STATE REQUESTS FOR EXPERT REPORTS. THE EVIDENCE SUBMITTED BY STATE AGENCIES IS FREQUENTLY INDISCRIMINATE, SUPERFLUOUS, OR IRRELEVANT. MANY REQUESTS FOR ANALYSES OF EVIDENCE DEAL WITH PETTY OFFENSES OR ARE RELATIVELY INSIGNIFICANT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE OVERALL EVIDENCE. OCCASIONALLY, FEDERAL EXPEERT CAPACITY IS NOT USED ALTHOUGH THE STATE EXPERTS ARE OVERWORKED. THE GROWING VOLUME OF FORENSIC EVIDENCE NECESSITATES A CLOSE COLLABORATION BETWEEN FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCIES. IN ADDITION, THE STATE AGENCIES NEED MORE AND BETTER TRAINED EXPERTS. --IN GERMAN. (SAJ)