Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
‘ Their job is to determine the truth’
Downingtown STEM Academy students investigate a mock crime scene with Downingtown police
DOWNINGTOWN >> Downingtown STEM Academy students learned at a mock crime scene on Thursday how to let the evidence tell them what happened.
The STEM students learned how to secure the mock crime scene staged near the Downingtown Police Department. At first glance, they noticed one victim in one vehicle and another victim lying face down in between that vehicle and a second vehicle. As the students got a closer look, they saw a weapon on the lap of the victim in his car and a weapon near the other victim. Both victims, which were manikins, had died in a road rage shooting.
The students placed evidence markers next to the empty shell casings they found on the ground near one of the vehicles involved in the incident. They also noticed an empty shell casing in that vehicle. Downingtown Detective Paul “Andy” Trautmann and Officer Kevin Coyle showed the students how to bag evidence and the students processed the mock crime scene. They informed the students that it could take about eight to 10 hours to process a crime scene.
The back window on the driver side was broken out and the police showed the students how to determine where the “bullet” entered through that window, which students found lodged in the back passenger side of the vehicle. The police also showed the students how to determine where the shooter was standing when he fired his weapon. Because the scenario involved twodeadvictims and no witnesses, the students had to figure out, based on the evidence, if therewere additional shooters involved.
“Their job is to determine the truth,” Trautmann explained. “Let the evidence tell you what happened.”
STEM student Emma Von Licht noticed something on the ground and asked Trautmann about it possibly being evidence. While it was not a part of the crime scene, he noted that investigators would photograph something in the crime scene and later determine if it serves as evidence or not. He told the students to collect all of the evidence that you can which allows them to refer to it later if necessary.
Von Licht wanted to participate in this program offered by the Downingtown police because she wanted to gain an experience where she could “make a difference.” She said her local police officers deal with more incidents than she realized, at first believing it was mostly thefts.
“It really openedmy eyes to how different their career is. I like to watch a lot of crime scene shows and this is so different. It’s really in depth,” said Von Licht, who served as the lead investigator to instruct her peers. “There’smore that goes into it than I thought. It showed me it’s a lot harder than I thought.”
Trautmann and Coyle guided the student investigators and explained that they have to put the puzzle pieces together.
“You have to remember when you’re investigating a scene that you were not there when it happened,” Coyle explained. “So you have to collect all of the evidence you can and document it the way you found it. You do the best you can with what you have.”
The students each took turns processing different parts of the crime scene, and serving in the various roles, including as investigators, photographers and the Coroner’s office.
“The hardest part was not stepping on the evidence,” STEM student Owen Dougherty said about the fake blood on the grass, and the empty shell casings, “and how to move around without missing anything.”
Dougherty, who is considering a career as a crime scene investigator, liked the balance of classroom and hands- on experiences because they had the opportunity to practice what they learned. Heworkedwith his team as the photographer to help document the evidence, and he also helped collect DNA blood samples and bag the weapon and empty shell casings into evidence bags.
“We try to make it interesting,” Trautmann said.
The program involves two days of classroom lectures to learn about crime scene investigations, as well as guest speakers who work in the FBI and the Coroner’s office. The final day involves investigating a mock crime scene. The three- day event is one of the practicums available to Downingtown STEM Academy students of the Downingtown Area School District, thanks to Downingtown Police Chief Howard Holland. This year, 16 STEM students participated. Visit Daily Local News staff writer Ginger Rae Dunbar’s blog about journalism and volunteering as a firefighter at FirefighterGinger. blogspot. com.