Brandon Twp.- Skulls, blood splatter, fingerprints and corpses.
These were some of the slide show images viewed by students Monday in the forensic science class at Brandon High School as Barb Martin Bailey, a forensic artist from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, explained what kind of work is done by crime scene investigators.
‘Crime scene technicians do not arrest suspects,? said Bailey, who has done reconstruction drawings of deceased persons, and composite sketches of suspects and missing persons since 1963. ‘We write reports, take notes, do drawings, take photos, measure and collect evidence. We don’t interview or interrogate suspects. We do testify in court. We start the day with clean lab coats and at the end of the day, they’re dirty, not clean.?
Bailey is just one of several guest speakers students in the forensic science class will hear this trimester. Planned speakers include a ballistics detective, an arson investigator, and an emergency room doctor. The class, for which students receive a full science credit, is a new offering this year and is taught by Nicole Stema, a former police officer who also teaches biology at BHS.
‘I love the subject matter and the kids are so excited for the class,? Stema said. ‘Students learn critical thinking skills, problem solving, and how to think outside the box.?
Lessons in the class include fingerprinting, hair and fiber analysis, DNA, and Stema’s favorite, blood splatter, during which students will throw fake blood on paper from different angles to simulate a crime scene.
Jake Knight, a senior, took the class because he has always been interested in science and enjoys detective stories. He thought it might be interesting as a career, but has changed his mind after a few weeks of the class.
‘I can’t take all the gore,? he said. ‘We’ve seen autopsy pictures… and the pictures were bad enough. If I was there, I would definitely have thrown up. I find it interesting the ways they find people and how much evidence they can find in so small of an area…. I’m glad I took the class, it’s interesting. (Crime scene investigation) is a little like tv, but tv doesn’t show half the work they have to do.?
The gore doesn’t bother Sara Strong, who hopes to work a real crime scene one day.
‘I watch all the CSI shows and the class made me more interested,? she said. ‘The class is fun, this isn’t your regular boring math, science and English.?
Strong said she enjoyed the hair and fiber lab, when she used a microscope and determined which hairs belonged to which animal. She also learned what steps to take at a crime scene, including first checking to see if medical assistance is needed, then blocking off the scene and taking notes. She noted that on fictional TV crime shows, the characters almost always solve the crimes, but real life is different.
Stema said that has been a problem for some students.
‘We use a lab book and examine real cases,? she said.
‘They will ask, ‘Who did it?? and sometimes I don’t know and they get so frustrated. I tell them, ‘They don’t always solve it.??