The course was conceived as a way of enhancing the professionalism and standardization of crime scene investigation. The course covers certain essential topics but the content varies from course to course depending on the student composition and the latest advances in investigative and forensic techniques. The first 3 weeks of instruction take place largely in the classroom and focus on crime scene management methods, crime scene photography, and techniques for collecting impression evidence. The remainder of the course is spent doing field training exercises in which students work mock crime scenes. Students learn how houses and vehicles burn and learn methods of data preservation at fire scenes. Students use the University’s Outdoor Anthropological Research Facility to learn how animals and weather disperse the remains of a decomposing body and to learn how to locate a clandestine grave using evidence left by a previous class. In 2006, the “Hell Scene” exercise involved faculty members dropping a dummy several hundred feet from a helicopter so that students could learn the probable effects of such a fall on the human body. Students returning to their respective law enforcement agencies return equipped with a knowledge of the latest investigative and forensic techniques, which has had an overall positive impact on their agencies. The course is offered in January, May, and September of each year and is limited to 16 students per class. Applicants must be investigators or crime scene technicians currently employed by a law enforcement agency. Figures
National Forensic Academy
NCJ Number
217498
Journal
Forensic Magazine: Technology, Trends, Products, and Solutions for Forensic Professionals Volume: 4 Issue: 1 Dated: February-March 2007 Pages: 44,46-48,50
Date Published
February 2007
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article describes the National Forensic Academy at the University of Tennessee, a 10-week, intensive training course on crime scene investigation.
Abstract