A robber texts where he hid his gun. A two-timing boyfriend prompts one woman's cyber stalking and threats. A husband searches whether falling down stairs can break your neck. His wife is found at the foot of their staircase, dead.

Lives are recorded on handheld devices, making police officers' jobs infinitely easier. Or it would, if they had the equipment and know-how to use the evidence stored on computers, phones and tablets. And if the savviest state and federal agencies were not inundated with requests and massive data breaches.

Instead, in Dakota County police often rely on a couple of Sheriff's Office employees to evaluate electronic devices. The wait prolongs some cases by more than a year.

In hopes of closing that gap, the county is creating the first local Electronic Crimes Task Force based in Minnesota. Ten agencies — nine city police departments and the sheriff's office — will participate in the group, which will begin operating next month.

"Computers are where criminals are committing their crimes, tracking their crimes and where evidence is. So the police department needs to get that capability on how to investigate, how to get that evidence out of these devices," West St. Paul Police Chief Bud Shaver told city officials when they decided to join.

"Back in the day, I would have a plaster cast and my footprints, and I would have my little fingerprint kit. But I have no idea how to do a cellphone — it requires special training and special software."

At least 80 percent of crimes have an electronic component, officials said, and departments lack the money or training to effectively investigate them.

When Sean McKnight became an Apple Valley police detective a decade ago, he estimates they were handling 10 cyber crime cases a year. Now, it's more than 500.

Until about two months ago, no one could do in-depth cellphone analysis, McKnight said. He relied on the county.

In nine cases, McKnight is waiting to hear about electronics he gave the sheriff's office eight months ago.

He feels like police are playing catch up with criminals — especially on social media.

What's Kik? Tumblr? Snapchat stories?

They often ask the youngest officers, or even a fellow cop's teenage son or daughter, for the lowdown, ­McKnight said.

Dakota County's task force will try to understand and use such untraditional sources of evidence to solve traditional crimes, like burglaries and murders, in addition to conducting sexual predator stings, said soon-to-be Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie.

But more complex and increasingly common cyber crimes like identity theft continue to elude local police.

Unsolved cyber crime

Ask a roomful of people if they have experienced credit card fraud or identity theft and someone is bound to raise a hand, said Apple Valley Sgt. Jim Gummert.

One man told him he had never been to Massachusetts, and yet someone was making purchases there with his card.

He couldn't do much.

"You say, 'OK, we'll take the information.' But how do you help the guy?" Gummert said. "The chances of it getting solved are slim."

Victims should file a police report, which they can use to straighten out the situation with their credit reporting agency, consumer rights attorney Thomas Lyons Sr. said. But that's all they can expect.

"Way, way, way down from murder and rape and pillage — identity theft. They don't want to deal with that," said Lyons. Officers have asked Lyons' clients, "You're here for what?"

"I think there's a frustration on the part of the police. 'Oh my god, how are we going to do this?' " he said.

Cyber threats arose so quickly that agencies have not figured out how to prevent and investigate the crimes, according to a Police Executive Research Forum report.

"Police departments are now expected to protect their community members from local offenders committing 'traditional' crimes, as well as computer hackers 10,000 miles away," the report states.

It is difficult to tell someone whose identity or property was stolen that you cannot help, detectives said.

"We're in the business of trying to help people, but at times like that you have to tell them the truth. … Sorry, there's little we can do with this," McKnight said.

Investigators hope the new task force will help solve identity theft and credit card fraud cases that occur inside Minnesota's borders, where it is easier to track down criminals.

But they do not expect to change their approach when the thief is out of state.

Delays and duplication

The task force is a three-year pilot program. It began when Leslie heard the Sheriff's Office pays about $30,000 every three years for new computer equipment.

Deputies talked with city police and the agencies decided to join forces to leverage limited resources and analyze evidence faster.

The Sheriff's Office will provide two deputies. Apple Valley and Burnsville will each offer a full-time officer; Inver Grove Heights, a part-timer.

Six cities — Farmington, Hastings, Mendota Heights, Rosemount, South St. Paul and West St. Paul — will each add $15,000 a year.

The group got a financial boost in November. Officials landed a $200,000 federal grant to aid domestic abuse victims who are stalked via social media or global-positioning systems on their phones.

The task force shows how to pool resources, said Minnesota Sheriffs' Association Director James Franklin.

"We just don't have funding streams though city or county or state resources," he said. "As we embark on this electronic new age, this is a continuing and growing challenge that, frankly, is not being adequately addressed."

Shared-cost task forces are the future of policing, said Sgt. Tom Champaigne of the Superior, Wis., police. He oversees the only task force similar to Dakota County's that operates in Minnesota. It is based in Wisconsin but partners with Duluth and St. Louis County.

"It just boils down to, things are very, very expensive to run a forensic lab," he said. The available grants pit the state against local task forces.

It costs $10,000 to buy a standard tool for pulling data off phones and about $3,000 a year for the license to operate it, he said. The technology only works for certain phones, so police need "that whole toolbox," Champaigne said.

His task force racks up about $30,000 annually in licensing fees alone.

And it's swamped: With five people working 60-hour weeks, the overtime cost is hefty. Last year the task force did 545 forensic exams. Every year that total rises by more than 100. As in Dakota County, cases have been waiting more than a year. They just never get to some low-level crimes.

But they can drop everything for a critical case, he said. Police departments that can't handle digital evidence set themselves up for a dangerous situation.

"You're going to be at the mercy of the state," Champaigne said. "When you have a missing child and need to examine a phone, you don't have weeks to wait. You don't have months to wait. You have to do this right now."

Jessie Van Berkel • 952-746-3280