Post by slt on Mar 5, 2010 11:29:11 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/lifestyles/2084106,2_5_AU05_TATARCOL_S1-100305.article
Most of us have seen crime shows on TV that portray a group of investigators gathering evidence at the scene, analyzing that evidence in a lab with amazingly quick and accurate results, and then solving the crime, all in a day or two!
My family got a glimpse of how it’s really done, and how long it takes, when we went on the tour at the new Aurora Police Department last year. Students at Indian Plains High School had an even more in-depth look at real-life crime investigation when they visited the DuPage County crime lab at the county complex last month.
Suzie Hansen, a teacher at the Graduation Academy at Indian Plains, said the students found the trip to be beneficial as it dispelled many myths perpetuated on TV. These students have been studying the criminal justice system in Street Law this year. In this class the students gain a practical understanding of the roles that law, lawyers, law enforcement officers, and the legal system play in our society. They begin with an introduction of criminal and civil law, focusing on the differences between the two, and then move on to learning about trial and appeals court and the American jury system.
Hansen explains that their focus this semester has been “on the criminal justice system, and the causes and nature of crimes against the person and against property. Prior to the field trip the students studied their 4th Amendment rights to gain a better understanding of what constitutes an unreasonable search. They learned what was necessary for an arrest to take place, including the difference between reasonable suspicion and probable cause, Terry Stops, and searching with and without a warrant. An Aurora police officer spoke to the students to clarify any questions and misunderstanding they may have of the procedures used by officers in an arrest.”
A forensic scientist at the DuPage County Sheriff’s Crime Laboratory told me that the crime lab moved into their current facility in 2004 after almost five years of planning. One of the things planned for was hosting a large number of tours. Tour groups view a short video outside each of four laboratory sections and then observe the actual workings of the lab through viewing windows. Visitors can’t actually go into the individual sections due to security of the evidence and the need to prevent contamination of the evidence.
The students had an opportunity to see where firearm and tool marks are examined and to see the lab’s reference collection of guns and where the test firing of firearms is done. They got to watch a drug chemist working, as the lab receives and analyzes many different types of drug cases daily. The lab has a full service Biology/DNA section where the students saw how biological samples are collected and how DNA samples are extracted. In the Latent Print Section they watched a scientist process evidence for latent fingerprints and conduct comparisons to victims and suspects. The students learned how the laboratory’s Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) is used to identify suspects. In this same section they learned about the use of footwear and tire track impressions.
The tour was both fascinating and educational and the students saw first-hand how science and technology solve real crimes.
Contact Sherry Tatar at SherryTatar@ameritech.net or visit statar.blogspot.com.
Most of us have seen crime shows on TV that portray a group of investigators gathering evidence at the scene, analyzing that evidence in a lab with amazingly quick and accurate results, and then solving the crime, all in a day or two!
My family got a glimpse of how it’s really done, and how long it takes, when we went on the tour at the new Aurora Police Department last year. Students at Indian Plains High School had an even more in-depth look at real-life crime investigation when they visited the DuPage County crime lab at the county complex last month.
Suzie Hansen, a teacher at the Graduation Academy at Indian Plains, said the students found the trip to be beneficial as it dispelled many myths perpetuated on TV. These students have been studying the criminal justice system in Street Law this year. In this class the students gain a practical understanding of the roles that law, lawyers, law enforcement officers, and the legal system play in our society. They begin with an introduction of criminal and civil law, focusing on the differences between the two, and then move on to learning about trial and appeals court and the American jury system.
Hansen explains that their focus this semester has been “on the criminal justice system, and the causes and nature of crimes against the person and against property. Prior to the field trip the students studied their 4th Amendment rights to gain a better understanding of what constitutes an unreasonable search. They learned what was necessary for an arrest to take place, including the difference between reasonable suspicion and probable cause, Terry Stops, and searching with and without a warrant. An Aurora police officer spoke to the students to clarify any questions and misunderstanding they may have of the procedures used by officers in an arrest.”
A forensic scientist at the DuPage County Sheriff’s Crime Laboratory told me that the crime lab moved into their current facility in 2004 after almost five years of planning. One of the things planned for was hosting a large number of tours. Tour groups view a short video outside each of four laboratory sections and then observe the actual workings of the lab through viewing windows. Visitors can’t actually go into the individual sections due to security of the evidence and the need to prevent contamination of the evidence.
The students had an opportunity to see where firearm and tool marks are examined and to see the lab’s reference collection of guns and where the test firing of firearms is done. They got to watch a drug chemist working, as the lab receives and analyzes many different types of drug cases daily. The lab has a full service Biology/DNA section where the students saw how biological samples are collected and how DNA samples are extracted. In the Latent Print Section they watched a scientist process evidence for latent fingerprints and conduct comparisons to victims and suspects. The students learned how the laboratory’s Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) is used to identify suspects. In this same section they learned about the use of footwear and tire track impressions.
The tour was both fascinating and educational and the students saw first-hand how science and technology solve real crimes.
Contact Sherry Tatar at SherryTatar@ameritech.net or visit statar.blogspot.com.