Students get lesson on crime

FINE PRINT: Kuranui College Year 10 student Olivia Sinnema (left) and Ashleigh Brazendale-Duncan fingerprint objects from a crime scene at the police college in Porirua. PHOTO/CHERYL IRO

Budding Wairarapa crime-fighters have sampled the world of forensic science during an inaugural two-day visit to the Royal New Zealand Police College in Porirua.

A trio of Year 10 students were chosen from each Wairarapa college to visit the police training school as part of the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) programme, said Kuranui College spokeswoman Catherine Rossiter-Stead.

Bob Hooker, Masterton Police forensic photographer and scene examiner, organised the visit to show students some evidence-gathering techniques of criminal investigations.

Students focused on crime scene photography, fingerprinting and blood splatter analysis before conducting a full crime scene investigation.

Mrs Rossiter-Stead said it was the first time any students had spent such an extended period of time at the police college with most school visits usually taking no more than several hours.

After studying each of these areas in detail, the students were placed in teams of five and led into the Police College "crime house" for the final scenario.

They pieced together the story of a crime after interviewing the occupant of the house and collecting physical evidence from the scene.

The evidence gathering involved taking prints from windows, DNA from cigarette butts and beer bottles, the photographic preservation of evidence, evidence bagging and recording.

Each group was given a specific room to analyse and the students relished the opportunity to put into practice the techniques they developed during their visit, with each being given a specific role: the lead detective, the photographer, the finger printer, the DNA collector and the notetaker/recorder.

The students said they had learned a range of practical scientific applications including how to safeguard a crime scene against contamination, measuring the angles of blood splatter and the behaviour of light.

There also was a session at the Environmental Science and Research (ESR) laboratory in Porirua and students also learned of the involvement of late Wairarapa-born scientist Maurice Wilkins, who helped discover the molecular structure of DNA, and that samples cost police $500 each to analyse.

Students considering a career in forensic science were told Auckland University offers a degree course in the subject that has limited spaces and gaining a general science degree and broader knowledge base was another way into the field.

Mrs Rossiter-Stead said the students were grateful to Mr Hooker, Gareth Davies, national forensic training co-ordinator), Hansel Wiramanaden, of Wairarapa College, Alwyn Williams, and the Masterton Trust Lands Trust for giving them "such a fantastic opportunity".