CSI: Alcoa -- Detective graduates UT's National Forensics Academy

By Jessica Stith
of The Daily Times Staff

Blood stains, fingerprinting the dead, bombs, booby traps and searching for scattered bones -- those are just a few areas that Alcoa Police Detective Terry McGill recently became specialized in.

McGill graduated from the University of Tennessee National Forensic Academy (NFA) Session 20 on March 14 after 10 weeks of gruelling training and studying. The academy is the only one of its kind in the United States.

He is the third detective in Blount County to graduate from the academy and the second at the Alcoa Police Department. The first Blount County graduate of the academy was John Cronan from the Maryville Police Department who later joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Evidence Response Team.

The NFA is designed to meet the needs of law enforcement in identifying, collecting and preserving evidence, Alcoa Police Capt. Dale Boring said. There are 400 hours of training per session -- 170 hours of class work and 230 hours of hands-on field work.

At the end of the training session, trainees must spend a full day in testing, which is administered by the FBI's Evidence Recovery Team.

McGill said most of the training and classroom study was on crime scene management, photography, latent print development, computer sketching and forensic anthropology, which took place at UT's Body Farm. He said he received hands-on experience in human remains recovery, fingerprint processing, death investigations and court room testimony.

"If you can imagine it, we did it," McGill said.

McGill said he graduated with a much better knowledge of criminal investigations and said it will change his approach to investigating different types of crimes in the future. He said the fingerprint photography and chemistry he learned is something he will use about every day.

"It is all so unique and in-depth," McGill said. "It's incredible how much hands-on training you do."

McGill, who has been with Alcoa Police Department for over eight years, earned nine graduate class credits at UT during the academy and 15 undergraduate credits.

He said there were 19 officers in his class from police departments across the U.S.

Alcoa Police Detective Kris Sanders graduated from the academy in 2006. He won the Dr. William Bass Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Forensic Investigation during Sessions 16 and is now a member of the NFA Alumni Board of Directors.

Detectives "fortunate"

Boring, captain over the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) at Alcoa Police Department, said the department was excited about the program and the knowledge that McGill and Sanders have brought back from the program. He said CID was appreciative that the detectives were given the opportunity.

"We are fortunate to have a police chief, city manager and commission that are dedicated to excellence in law enforcement," Boring said.

He said they hope to send Detective Susan Burcham through the academy next, upon approval from the Alcoa commission. He said they also hope to send all future Alcoa detectives through the program.

Out of state tuition to the academy is about $7,000, Boring said, but Tennessee offers a grant allowing the state's officers to enroll for less than half of the price. The city of Alcoa paid only $2,500 for McGill to attend and it will cost about $3,200 for Burcham to attend due to a raise in tuition.

Admission competitive

Admission to NFA is highly competitive and UT only accepts 18 to 20 officers per session. Nathan Lefebvre, forensic training specialist at NFA, said applicants must be employed in law enforcement as an investigator and must be recommended by their agency head.

Lefebvre said he was impressed with both Sanders and McGill and their work with the NFA, which has had a total of 316 graduates so far.

"He did great," Lefebvre said of McGill. "Alcoa has represented itself very well with those two guys."

Boring said that detectives use to get some training through the police department, but it had not been until the last few years that smaller departments have had access to an academy like NFA.

"Now we have it and it's at our back door," Boring said. "We're just very fortunate to have it here."

McGill pointed out that all NFA graduates have access to the Law Enforcement Innovation Center in Oak Ridge at any time. The NFA is also building a new facility in Oak Ridge where the academy will be held in the future.