Aurora police offers CSI training to officers to fill staffing gap
The Aurora Police Department is getting internal help to fill the gaps of its staffing shortage. APD is teaching officers additional investigative skills to bridge the gap, allowing CSI agents to focus on higher-level crime scenes.
The officer CSI classes are meant to provide the training necessary to assist with processing minor scenes. Their assistance will free up CSI agents to spend time on more major scenes.
Lt. Steve White says nearly 40 officers will be certified to respond to such crimes.
"For example, a burglary or a stolen car case. These officers will be able to respond and help out their fellow officers and process any evidence they find on the scene," said White. "Hopefully they can alleviate some of the calls that CSI has to go to so that they can handle the bigger crimes."
White says the pandemic put a hold on CSI classroom training for officers.
He says having officers equipped with this training is a more proficient system than waiting for CSI agents, who are often very busy, to process minor crime scenes.
Officers will learn the basics of crime scene photography, latent print processing, DNA swabs and basic crime scene awareness and processing. Classes are led by instructor Kimberly Gilbreath, who previously worked for Dallas PD as a crime scene investigator. She was hired by APD in 2017.
Officer Bryan Sperber's coming up on just two years with APD. He's in the process of getting CSI officer training.
"I know firsthand how important it is to be able to get this evidence and how frequently we're not able to." said Sperber. "When you can't figure things out, you feel almost like you've let people down."
Sperber started his career as a paramedic. He says he made the switch to policing in 2020 after seeing a rise in crime and people suffering.
The officer CSI training doesn't make them agents, but they'll make investigations more efficient. Sperber knows minor scenes aren't minor to victims.
"You go back to work another day and something from that scene has escalated or continued. Knowing that you weren't able to help them or didn't have the answers, it's definitely bothersome," said Sperber. "Now I can be utilized in the moment on any shift as opposed to us waiting to be able to analyze the scenes. I just figured it's a bigger help, not only to my team, but the city I work for."
While APD is working to fill vacancies within its department, they also have open positions in the civilian crime scene unit. For more information visit joinaurorapd.com.
