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| Crime-lab merger issue resurfaces |
| By omaha.com - John Ferak |
| Published: 06/16/2011 |
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Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine and other county officials are renewing calls for a city-county crime lab merger. Months have passed since Sheriff Tim Dunning and Omaha Police Chief Alex Hayes last met to discuss merging their crime labs as a way to improve operational efficiency and achieve savings for taxpayers. Kleine said he’s committed to resurrecting negotiations. “It makes sense to us to pool resources and to pool our funds to operate one top-of-the-line lab for both entities, versus two separate labs where both offer similar services,” Kleine said. “Why not a metro lab that both entities and other people can share?” A majority of County Board members say they are ready to support a merger, now that Kleine wants to help ensure that it happens. Talk of a merger heated up last summer after Douglas County’s former crime lab manager, Dave Kofoed, went to prison on an evidence-tampering conviction. Kofoed had built the lab into a regional facility. This spring, the county lab moved into the former Thomas Fitzgerald Veterans Home. The sheriff used $4 million in drug-forfeiture funds to renovate the west wing of the vacant county facility near 156th Street and West Maple Road to house the new crime lab and K9 unit. Location and management control have been obstacles in merger talks. Omaha police have concerns about relocating to the county lab because most of the Omaha crime lab’s work is within 10 minutes of its downtown location. The county’s lab is a 30- to- 40-minute drive from many parts of the city. “The majority of our response calls are within the eastern part of the city,” Hayes said. He said that while some law enforcement mergers around the country have worked, others have failed. He said he would be open to a merger if he were convinced that a joint crime lab would be more efficient and cheaper for the people of Omaha. Read More. |
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