Mason City High School Criminology students finished the school year diving into the role of forensics by investigating a fictional crime scene inside the school’s basement.
“When I walked up to the crime scene, I was like, ‘Holy cow’ 'cause I had no idea what I was looking at,” Junior Madalyn Chose said. “All I saw was a purple mannequin and some jankety-looking other mannequin lying on the ground with a gun next to it. I had no idea what I was walking into.”
The Criminology 1 class is led by long-term substitute teacher Carol Dettmer. The curriculum gives students an idea of how crime scenes operate. Before diving into any hands-on work, two investigators visited the class and taught students how to take fingerprints off windows and how to secure a perimeter.
When it was time to investigate, students were given details about the crime scene, which involved the homicide of two Mason City residents inside a home. Their assignment was to solve the crime based on observations from the scene and interviews.
“There was just so much to look at,” Chose said. “There were shoes on the ground right next to the front door, but then there was a scale with pretend weed on it. It was the most random stuff you would see ever.”
Students were given very basic information about the victims and possible witnesses, whose parts were played by teachers.
Junior Eric Pals said he enjoyed the crime scene project because he plans to work in law enforcement after high school.
“I thought it was good to experience the kinds of processes you have to go through. Working on a team was a good experience as well,” Pals said. “It was a relatively easy project, interviewing was probably the most fun part.”
Sophomore Shivang Vithalpara also took part in the class. He says he learned what skills are important to investigators.
“You gotta understand people’s behaviors,” said Vithalpara. “So if people are very emotional when they talk, like if they fidget around and they’re emotional, they’re probably bluffing. But if they’re just like normally emotional, then it’s like they’re conveying a true point.”
Students also learned how valuable it is to take a step back and not mess up the crime scene.
“Because if you mess up taking someone's fingerprint off a window, you just lost your whole entire suspect right there,” Chose said.
One emphasis at the Mason City High School this past school year involved a commitment to embedding the community into learning. Using professionals from the Mason City Police Department and the Iowa Department of Corrections is an important part of the class.
