A dead woman in a public bathroom. Undergarments scattered among skeletal remains. Blood, drug residue and a body that likely fell off the roof after drinking too much at a party. These were some of the grim, simulated scenarios police
A dead woman in a public bathroom. Undergarments scattered among skeletal remains. Blood, drug residue and a body that likely fell off the roof after drinking too much at a party.
These were some of the grim, simulated scenarios police documented yesterday, as part of a crime scene investigation class, taught by three doctorate-level instructors from the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science.
Though the evidence wasn’t real, police and firefighters treated each case as though they had just been called to the scene, in a simulation that began with an emergency 911 call that dispatched them to the site.
Once on-scene, investigators had to analyze and protect evidence, and they were on their own until instructors would act as judge and jury later that day.
This was the first time the institute, based in Connecticut, offered the class in Hawai‘i. Kaua‘i Community College’s continuing education program helped fund the course, in part with money slated for public safety purposes.
As part of the week-long course, police and firefighters were coached in crime scene investigation technique that included an end goal of a strong case for trial.
Though the Kaua‘i police that were attending the course have already been trained in crime reconstruction, the class was offered to refresh and augment their skills, Sgt. Mark Begley said.
The class also was intended to help those in divisions such as the traffic safety unit to process evidence more efficiently, a skill that is designed to minimize traffic delays in the wake of accidents, he added.
Instructor Marilyn Miller, a forensic scientist with a PhD in education, said even the most fine-tuned police departments need to stay abreast of technological advances when it comes to crime scenes, especially in cases involving bloodstain patterns, gunshot activity and digital evidence.
Police had the opportunity to test their newfound skills yesterday, as they roped off four mock crime scenes.
The first scene included a female mannequin amidst faux blood splatter in a bathroom, while the second scene included a jaw bone, randomly placed pieces of vertebrae, a Diet Coke can and underwear.
The final two crime reconstructions included drug paraphernalia and newspapers in a concealed room and a male mannequin outside on the ground, near an empty liquor bottle, eaten apple and displaced shoe.
As rain began to pour on the crime scenes and investigators worked to cover some of the evidence, Miller said documenting the exact time when it started to rain as well as having someone in charge of such a task is just one of the many tasks that, if forgotten, can jeopardize a case.
“Clearly the rain affects the evidence, so knowing how much rainwater to expect when sending it to the lab is part of it,” she said.
Also knowing that a glass that gets wet can be air-dried to preserve fingerprints is one of those pieces of knowledge that can help quash doubt brought forth by the defense, she said.
Instructor Peter Massey, PhD, who has been in law enforcement for more than 20 years, emphasized that investigators also are charged with the task of keeping themselves safe when at a crime scene.
“Being careful of body fluids — blood, contaminants, biohazards — and anything else harmful, such as sharp objects, is a factor,” he said. “Rarely is a crime scene under a bright, sunny sky. A lot of times it’s dirty — not ideal — so officer safety is tantamount.”
Keeping those things in mind and putting a team into action — even in drill form — is what Massey said will help arm investigators with the tools they need to build strong cases.
Another part of building strong cases is testing theories to ensure they’re accurate, a skill that requires an open mind, Miller said.
“Expect the unexpected,” she said. “When you expect to see the same thing time and time again, you’re going to miss something.”
Everything from the manner in which a shoe has made an impression on the floor to the direction in which fingerprints are left on an object can yield that one critical piece of evidence, she added.
“You’re looking at the present and making a conclusion about the past,” she said. To do that, investigators need to be able to take advantage of the dynamic qualities of the patternistic evidence — such as blood — to recreate exactly what happened.
“Bloodstain patterns are almost at every crime scene,” she said. “From them, you can know how far away the shooter was, whether there was movement before or afterward, whether the gun kicks to the left or right…”
The value of each piece of evidence, whether analyzed on its own or combined with others, should never be overlooked, she added.
“If the fingerprints on a glass bottle are upside down, and you do testing to see if (the bottle) matches the indentation on his head — then maybe you’ve got you’re murder weapon.”
