Learning the Ropes: High School Students get Special Peek Inside Crime Scene House
Prospective students recently received a crash course in crime scene investigations.
Criminal justice faculty members hosted a mock crime scene event in February for 24 high school students at the University’s crime scene house.
Students were divided into four teams — interview, evidence collection, sketch, and evidence processing — to investigate a mock homicide. They were tasked with collecting evidence and piecing together the crime.
“These students had to work together collaboratively to solve this crime,” says Jennifer Moore, professor and chair of the criminal justice major. “They were very engaged and tried to investigate the case from different angles.”
David Seip, an instructor and retired Pennsylvania state trooper, also gave the students a fingerprint demonstration, showing them how to lift prints off of glassware. Current DeSales students also participated in the event, role playing and supervising the younger students.
The University’s crime scene house is used for criminal justice, homeland security, political science, psychology, and law and society majors to simulate emergencies, national disasters, crime scenes, and courtrooms.
