It was announced Thursday morning that the Omaha Police Department is getting a new partner in crime fighting.
The City of Omaha will be teaming up with the University of Nebraska Medical Center for forensic evidence processing. The city previously used Douglas County's lab to do their forensic processing, but will end that relationship in the next 90 days.
There had been talks of a joint county-city lab, but an agreement on that plan never happened, and Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer says the UNMC lab will process more evidence in a more timely manner. "The turnaround time with the county was consistently above our allotted time. That damages our investigations."
The city will continue their relationship with the Nebraska State Patrol labs, which the city will use for evidence testing that doesn't need to be processed as quickly.
Schmaderer says the UNMC lab will give the city access to services not previously available through the county's lab. "Our agreement will add additional services such as urinalysis, toxicology testing, and has a foundation built in place to add even more services down the road."
Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert says the deal with UNMC will not come at any additional cost to the taxpayers. "The evidence needed to achieve a conviction rate that matches our clearance rate, will be reliable and it will be accurate. For the taxpayers the agreement will be cost neutral." The city had been paying the county about $135,000 each year for their forensic services.
Schmaderer said although he was disappointed that a county-city merger didn't come to fruition, he said he would welcome the county as partner in the future. The city is slated to begin using the UNMC lab in December.