On the "C.S.I." television shows, crime lab scientists have DNA results or other lab tests back in no time. That's not the way it works in reality at the State Law Enforcement Division's crime lab in Columbia, though. There's a backlog of at least three months on most cases.

But SLED is making a major change in the way it operates in an effort to address that backlog as well as retain current scientists and recruit more.

Until now, forensic scientists also had to be certified SLED agents, which means they had to go through the nine-week law enforcement course at the Criminal Justice Training Academy in Columbia. They were then issued state cars and police gear and were available for street-level law enforcement in addition to their lab duties.

"We had a couple of people go to the academy, which is now a military setting more so than a college campus setting, and just after the first week or so say, 'This is not for us,'" says SLED Chief Robert Stewart.

So he has created the position of forensic scientist agent. Scientists who work in the crime lab will have to go through only a three-week course at the academy on the laws they'll need to know in doing their crime lab work and testifying in court.

They won't have to go through the physical part of the police training any more, which included physical fitness, firearms and driving. They also won't be required to do street-level law enforcement in most cases, either. 

Since they won't have state-issued cars or police gear, SLED will use that money to raise scientists' salaries, to retain current employees and recruit qualified new ones.

"We certainly think that the backlog will go down for two reasons. Number one, there'll be people spending more time in the laboratory," Chief Stewart says. "And we're also hiring 20 new people in the laboratory."

Besides the initial training, crime lab scientists also had to go through annual law enforcement training to keep their certification.

"The burden of the day-to-day law enforcement duties has eased, and it does allow you more continuity here," in the lab, says Robin Taylor. She's been a forensic scientist and SLED agent for more than 15 years.

Chief Stewart says 38 of the lab's current employees have signed up for the new program, including Taylor.

"Several times a year, you're gone at least half-a-day, sometimes longer, with firearms training. And then once a year there's a couple days worth of legals and firearms and/or driving training," she says.

There were times when she couldn't start a test on a piece of evidence in the morning, for example, because she knew she'd be leaving that afternoon for some kind of training.

And the law enforcement continuing training was in addition to the continuing education they have to complete for their lab work.

The "C.S.I." shows have increased the number of people who are interested in doing crime lab work. But Chief Stewart says, "It's increased your scientific, very brilliant people that want to get into it that may not want to have the general law enforcement responsibility as well." 

This change solves that and should reduce the backlog of cases, without costing any additional tax dollars, he says.