WATERLOO - Waterloo Police Department command staff is looking to replace sworn crime scene investigators with civilian lab technicians.

While the department's crime lab now operates with a sergeant and three police officers trained in forensic science, Police Chief Tom Jennings said Waterloo is behind the national trend in switching to civilians with career training in crime scene analysis.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation and most major metropolitan police departments in the state have gone to civilian CSIs. Only Waterloo and Cedar Rapids maintain sworn officers in the crime lab.

Jennings asked City Council members during a work session this week to consider allowing him over the next two years to move the three officers from the crime lab back onto patrol and replace them with civilian lab techs while maintaining the sergeant as a supervisor.

"This is a way for us to get more officers on the street," said Jennings. But the plan, which could be ready for a council vote in two weeks, would conceivably cost more by boosting the department's overall staffing levels as the new lab techs would be on top of the current 120-officer sworn staff.

But Police Lt. Rich Carter said the proposed change is about more than money.

"The people we recruit as police applicants are a different type of person than we're looking for in the lab," Carter said. "It's kind of a different personality that we're looking for."

Police officers used to public contact and the snap decision making on the streets often find working alone processing fingerprints and evidence in the crime lab is not to their liking. When they transfer back to a squad car, thousands of dollars spent on their training is lost.

Meanwhile, hit television shows like CSI and its spin-offs have generated more interest in forensic science. Schools have begun offering courses and degrees in those subjects, which have become more technical in today's world.

Civilian lab workers would make slightly less than sworn officers, and many of those applying for the jobs would already come with much of the required training. But hiring three more bodies would still be a budget challenge.

"We need to know what we're doing as far as budget," said Mayor Tim Hurley. "What (Jennings) proposes, I like. It's just a matter of how you pay for it."

Both Jennings and Hurley said they were still interesting in pursuing potential sharing arrangements with the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office and Cedar Falls Police Department, both of which operate crime labs of their own.

Contact Tim Jamison at (319) 291-1577 or tim.jamison@wcfcourier.com.