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Calhoun County Sheriff Matt Wade wants deputies with as much forensics training as they can get.

Thats because crime scene investigation technology improves quickly and requires plenty of training training the Calhoun County Sheriffs Office routinely must pay for its deputies to acquire, Wade said.

If we can get someone with that training just out of college or at least hire them with already a basis in forensics, thats something that would be very desirable, Wade said.

Jacksonville State University might soon offer the expanded forensics training Wade desires.

The JSU board of trustees last month gave the department of criminal justice approval to create a bachelors degree in forensic investigation. The proposed degree, if it receives state approval, would offer training in a field thats grown in popularity and need in the past 15 years as technology has improved, some JSU officials, sheriffs and police chiefs say.

Dean Buttram, undergraduate director and associate professor in the department of criminal justice, said the department has until mid-March to submit its application for the proposed degree to the state for approval. If the degree is approved, the university would start offering it in the fall.

Buttram said his department has for years offered a concentration in forensic investigation, which mainly includes training in field work processing crime scenes. Buttram said the forensic investigation degree is different from a forensic science degree, which focuses more on work in a lab and requires more education in biology and chemistry.

Buttram said the growth in popularity of forensics the last 15 years prompted JSUs desire to create the degree. Buttram noted that over the last decade, 65 percent to 75 percent of the students in the department of criminal justice have picked a concentration in forensics for their degrees.

Buttram said criminal forensics investigation television shows like CSI and NCIS have made the field more popular.

People have grown up watching those shows, Buttram said.

Buttram added that the advent of new technologies, such as DNA collection in the 1990s, pushed more demand and interest in forensics.

It has become a specialized area and thats a reason why were to a point where we feel forensics needs to be a standalone degree, Buttram said.

Buttram noted that because of the improvement in forensic technology and growth in demand for crime scene collection skills, students with the new degree would be more desirable hires for police departments and sheriffs offices.

Wade said forensics skills, such as collecting fingerprints, are desirable to help solve many cases.

Its not just for big cases like murder more times than not, we see a lot of thefts and burglaries solved with DNA evidence, Wade said.

Tommie Reese, president of the Alabama Association of Police Chiefs and chief of the Demopolis Police Department, said his department has had to pay for officers to obtain forensics training, so any new hire who comes in with a forensics degree would help.

Any kind of training from Jacksonville State would definitely be a plus for any candidate, Reese said.

Wally Olson, president of the Alabama Sheriffs Association and sheriff of Dale County, said technology has reached the point where more deputies need specialized forensics training to collect evidence.

From recovery of cell phone data to fingerprint analysis and blood splatter patterning, theres a lot more than what there used to be, Olson said. If we had more people with knowledge and certification to do a lot of that stuff in-house, it would definitely make a difference in our profession.

Anniston police Chief Shane Denham said hed prefer to hire officers already trained in forensics. Denham cautioned, though, that every department is different and many in the state dont hire civilian forensic investigators, meaning applicants would have to pass police officer physicals to get a job.

Its a consideration people need to consider when they go into forensics to consider if youre physically unable to do a test, Denham said.

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JSU working to create bachelor's degree in forensic investigation - Anniston Star