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Week 5: Students follow the evidence
By Krista Goerte
Published November 26, 2009
Question: According to popular television shows, how long does it take to solve a crime?
Answer: Thirty to 60 minutes minus commercials.
Everyone watches them — CSI, NCIS, Bones and countless other shows. But participants in the Citizens Police Academy found out just how unrealistic those shows really are.
Along with talks about crime theft, burglary and prevention and school resource officers, CPA focused on crime scene investigation and the many details involved.
“Police television is entertainment,” said Lt. Danny Huff, head of the criminal investigations division with Paris Police Department. “While we are entertained, don’t be deceived by what you see.”
Instant DNA analysis that automatically turns up a suspect, hunting down and catching a suspect or multiple suspects and putting the “bad guy” away – all in the span of less than an hour – simply doesn’t happen, Huff said.
The Criminal Investigations Division works methodically on each case and it is not a speedy process. From processing a crime scene, to sending out for a DNA test, detectives work together with many different types of experts toward solving a single case.
A common misconception is that a DNA analysis provides near instant results. It’s quite the opposite, according to Huff.
Months is closer to the truth to receive DNA test results, with labs backed up with more cases than they can handle. DNA tests are also very expensive and run in the neighborhood of up to $2,500, depending on the type of sample.
Receiving toxicology reports and autopsies present similar problems. A single autopsy can cost upwards of $1,000.
Day-to-day routines for detectives are not nearly as glamorous as portrayed on television. Many hours are spent interviewing, collecting and processing evidence to name just a few duties, and on many activities besides working murder cases.
Continuing with the criminal investigations subject, Sgt. Jimmy Steed talked about crime scene investigation.
Any place can be considered a crime scene, from a residence, to a car or even an airplane, and a case is not limited to only one crime scene.
When looking for evidence, police identify five different types of physical evidence.
Transient evidence is temporary in nature. Pattern evidence is contact between people and objects. Conditional evidence is the placing of certain objects, such as a locked or unlocked door or open window that could have bearing on the case. Associative evidence associates a suspect with the victim or the scene; for example a car stereo pawned at a pawn shop.
Detectives look for intentional and unintentional objects left at a crime scene, including fingerprints, DNA, tools and tool marks, weapons, bullets, shell casings, knives, personal items dropped, footprints or tire prints.
Haskell Maroney, head of the Northeast Texas Auto Theft Task Force, spoke to the group about auto theft, burglary and how to prevent both.
The goal of the NE TX ATTF is to reduce theft and burglary numbers, and since its inception in 1994, it has done just that. Funded by the Texas Auto Theft Burglary Prevention Authority through $1 per year from every comprehensive auto policy, the Northeast Texas branch covers 12 counties in the area.
The organization deals with everything from car theft and burglary, to vehicle recovery to insurance fraud.
Haskell offered theft and burglary prevention tips, including:
• Hiding valuables from plain sight;
• Taking the keys from the vehicle;
• locking the car;
• parking in well-lit or steadily trafficked areas;
• giving parking attendants the ignition keys only, not the keys to the trunk or glove box if possible;
• never leaving a running car unattended, whether at a gas station or to warm it up; and
• install an anti-theft device.
School resource officers also talked to the class about their jobs on the Paris and North Lamar campuses.
Paris ISD instituted a school resource officer (SRO) in 1994, the first district in the area to do so, explained SRO Brad Ruthart, one of two officers currently employed by PISD.
North Lamar SRO Mike Boaz said NLISD first instituted officers on campus in 1999. There are currently three officers at NLISD.
Although the officers are paid by the school districts, they are employees of Paris Police Department.
The officers’ jobs include security on campus, crime prevention, teaching character education classes in the form of preventative programs, sharing important information with school staff and serving as peer mentors.
A constant presence and a familiar presence on campus is a positive thing, the officers said. The students learn that not all interactions with a police officer are negative, that, in fact, a police officer is there to help.
Working proactively on the campuses in one of the most important things SRO officers can do, which includes face-to-face time with the students and teaching programs such as D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and G.R.E.A.T. (Gang Resistance Education and Training).
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