DETECTIVE WEEK -
Preparation:
Monday: Going Undercover
- Media: CrashBox Brain Games
- Most detectives are part of your local sheriff's department or the FBI, but this week, you will be a Private Investigator. A "PI" is a private citizen who solves mysteries on a per-case basis. Think Sherlock Holmes, the Hardy Boys, or Nancy Drew.
- Change into your disguise: Detectives sometimes go undercover as part of their investigation of a possible crime. Choose the clothing and accessories farthest from what you would normally wear, and make your outfit as absurd as possible so that no one will know it's you.
- A detective’s job is to solve crimes. They search for clues and uncover evidence to create a whole picture of what happened. Detectives will also search public and private databases and investigate people to solve the case.
- Four parts to the detective process: Observation, Question, Inference, and Proof
- Observation - Look for clues, observations can be seen or heard. They are something you witness. Example: The photo shows...
- Question - A question caused by your observation. Example: I wonder why...
- Inference - A conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning. You can witness something, but you have to use your brain to understand what it means. This part is difficult for most non-detectives, but if you change your way of thinking, you can do it too. This is how you make your case to put the bad guy away. Example: I can infer that...
- Proof - Use your evidence to back up your inference. Example: This is what happened because...
- You can use inferences in all parts of your life. Example: Motley didn't have any food in her bowl when you got home from school, but when you went to feed her at 5PM, she had food in her bowl. What is your detective process? What is your inference? You can infer that someone else already fed Motley. You can, of course, prove this by asking.
- P.E. - FBI Special Agents are the most renowned detectives in the country. Because of this, they have to go through some extensive training. This week, we are going to prepare for the FBI Physical Fitness Test:
- DAY ONE - Sit-ups: Do as many continuous sit-ups as possible in one minute.
- Media: Play Nancy Drew PC Games
- Games: Play Nancy Drew Mystery at Magnolia Gardens
- Media: Watch Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase
- Media: Watch Annabelle Cooper and the Ghosts of Nantucket
Tuesday: Crime Scene Investigation
- To have a crime, you have to have a victim. Who was hurt by the crime?
- To prove someone committed a crime, you have to prove intent/motive and opportunity (do they have an alibi?)
- Media: Watch Forensic Files: Point of Origin
- P.E. - Prepare for the FBI Physical Fitness Test:
- DAY TWO - Sprint: Sprint for 300 meters (for time).
Types of Physical Evidence at a Crime Scene:
- A Real Crime Scene Investigation
- Body fluids — Primarily blood and saliva, which can be found on clothing or other fabrics or objects in liquid or dried form. These components are commonly gathered from a crime scene or a person on sterile fabric patches or swabs for species identification and possible individualization using serological methods or DNA analysis.
- You can make homemade blood with corn syrup, water, and food coloring. On a large piece of butcher paper, splatter the fake blood with an eye dropper. Leave space while splattering to show where a hand or arm could have been. Then, have the kids try to recreate the blood splatters to determine the distance they were splattered from.
- Body Tissues — autopsy samples of various organs, as well as blood, urine, and stomach contents, are collected for toxicological analysis.
- Drugs and Controlled Substances — plant materials, powders, tablets, capsules, or other preparations for identification and weight.
- Fibers – fibers for identification and comparison, either natural (cotton, wool) or synthetic (rayon, dacron).
- Fingerprints, Palm Prints, and Foot Prints — visible or latent prints lifted or cast from various surfaces for comparison and identification. This category frequently includes tire and footwear impressions.
- Fire and Explosive Materials — liquids, solids, or burned debris to identify accelerants and explosive residues.
- Firearms and Projectiles — identification, source, and comparison of projectiles, as well as firearm test firings, distance determinations, and firearm operability.
- Glass – Glass fragments may be linked to a suspect and a break-in, or glass fractures may be analyzed to determine the direction of the force exerted or the sequence of rounds fired. Glass analysis is frequently used in the reconstruction of automobile accidents.
- Hair — Hair is collected from a crime scene, a victim, or a suspect to determine the species (animal or human), race, and origin of the body part. Hair morphological traits can be used to include or exclude a suspect if they are human. It’s also possible to tell if the hair was crushed, clipped, burned, forcibly removed, or simply fell out.
- Compare hairs between animals and humans with your magnifying glass. What are the differences?
- Oils and Grease or Cosmetic Products — Oils and grease, as well as cosmetic items, are transported between objects and people and have distinct compositions that may be compared.
- Paint and Paint Products — Paint may have transferred from one object to another on numerous surfaces, such as in a vehicle collision. This form of paint fragment transfer is commonly examined on the clothing of pedestrians who have been struck by a car.
- Serial Numbers — Serial numbers are unique identifiers for a Frequently altered or removed from vehicles, firearms, and other objects, and can be restored for appropriate identification using chemical etching.
- Soils and Minerals, Wood, and Other vegetation — Soils and minerals, as well as wood and other forms of plants. A plausible source or location that can be linked to a suspect or victim is identified and compared.
- Tool Marks — Surface impressions or scratches that may reveal the type of object that created them. Wear features on the object or instrument, such as a prybar or screwdriver, might provide distinct characteristics for comparison with the impression. Clothing or fabric impressions on vehicle parts have been linked to pedestrian hit-and-run accidents.
- Questioned documents — Questioned Document is a type of physical evidence that can include handwritten, typed, copied, or computer-generated documents that are inspected for forgery evidence. To determine authenticity, the studies may include ink and paper analyses as well as handwriting comparisons. In the case of erased, physically damaged, or burnt papers or materials, restorative processes may be used.
- Set up their own crime scene to investigate:
- I scattered paintbrushes all over the dining room table as if they had been knocked over, and I dripped washable paint on the table and floor. I then dipped one of my dog's paws in the paint and left a pawprint on the table. I also left behind a good chunk of dog hair, a few pieces of his food, and some grass in the paint to provide even more evidence. I then dripped a little bit of paint on the dog's coat to show up in the lineup.
- Then, I rounded them up: "Detectives, a crime may have been committed at our home. The police need your help to solve it. Will you help them figure out what happened?"
- Make sure you properly prep to enter the crime scene:
- Tape off the scene to mark your parameter and keep all unauthorized visitors out
- Put on gloves so as not to contaminate the crime scene
- Be on the lookout for all forms of physical evidence
- Do not touch anything until you have taken pictures of the scene; mark each piece of evidence with an evidence marker before you take the picture
- Once photos are done, you can pick up the evidence with only a sanitized tool
- Secure prints with tape and imprint paper
- Need a corkboard to pin documents, reports, photos, and drawings
- Use your detecting process to solve the crime
- Extras:
- Create a timeline for the crime
- Draw a map of how each crime was committed
- Write a first-person story about one of the crimes
Wednesday: Witness Statements
- Another pre-arrest investigative tool detectives employ is interviewing the victim of the alleged crime and witnesses. They speak to anyone they believe may have helpful information, which could include a suspect’s co-workers, family, friends, and neighbors.
- Unfortunately, out of all types of evidence, eyewitness statements are the least accurate because they are subjective and can be warped by a person's ideas and morals. However, they are a great source to corroborate the physical evidence you have already collected.
- Example: You've been waiting all year for this awesome new video game to be released. At 6:35PM, you finally receive the e-mail stating it has been delivered to your mailbox parcel locker. However, your mom says you have to eat dinner and take a shower before you can go retrieve it.
- At 7:43PM, you race to the mailboxes to find the key to parcel locker #2 in your mailbox. But, when you get to parcel locker #2, you find it has been pried open, and there is no video game inside.
- You are sad, of course, but you waste no time. You put on your detective thinking cap and begin examining the crime scene for evidence.
- You notice a fingerprint on the door to the parcel locker, marks made by the device used to pry the parcel locker door open, and a muddy boot print on the concrete pad the mailboxes are secured into.
- You lift the fingerprint, measure the marks that the pry bar made, take a casting of the boot print, and take a sample of the mud from the boot print.
- You see Max walking back into his driveway. He is out of breath, sweating, and holding his little chihuahua, PingPong, under his arm. Max's house is right in front of the mailbox. You ask him if he saw anything or anyone strange around the mailbox between 6:35-7:43PM.
- Max says he was in his yard watering his roses around 7:30PM and remembered seeing Bill at the mailbox. He says Bill was acting very suspicious, constantly looking around to see if anyone was watching him. But then, Max says PingPong ran after a cat, so he had to run and catch him. He says he just got back.
- With this information about Bill's behavior, you can safely add him to the suspect list. After running the fingerprint you lifted through the national fingerprint database, you find that it matches Bill. With these two sources of corroborating evidence, you can receive a warrant from a judge to search Bill's house.
- In Bill's garage, you find a pair of boots with mud on them. When you line the tread against the impression you took from the crime scene, it matches. The mud on the boots also matches the sample you took from the crime scene. Propped against the wall next to the boots is a crowbar, and its width matches the measurement you took from the crime scene.
- When you walk inside the house and search the living room, you find the box to the brand new game on top of the PlayStation and the brand new game inside the console. Bill has been caught red-handed.
- With just Max's statement, the crime would have just been hearsay, but without his statement, you would never have known where to look for a suspect. Now, with all this corroborating evidence, you can put handcuffs on Bill. And while he's spending the night in jail, you can go back home and play your awesome brand-new video game.
- Detectives can also bring in a suspect for questioning. Unless the individual is in custody, law enforcement officials do not have to give them their Miranda warnings and can use any statements made against the accused.
- P.E. - Prepare for the FBI Physical Fitness Test:
- DAY THREE - Push-ups: Do as many continuous push-ups as you can (not for time).
Thursday: Investigating Suspects
- Once you have your physical evidence and your witness statements, it's time to investigate the suspects...
- Engaging in Surveillance - Sometimes detectives engage in surveillance of a suspect or others who could have useful information. There are special rules around this due to privacy laws, so most of the time, you have to have a warrant (for searching private property, tapping phone calls; tracing vehicles, persons, or calls) unless on public property.
- Searching Social Media and Other Records - Detectives could also search a person’s social media sites or other websites where individuals discuss potential crimes with others for evidence that a crime was or is about to be committed. They may also obtain a warrant to get an individual’s cell phone, financial, or other records from businesses or other parties.
- Other items that may be obtained via warrant: security camera footage, witness camera footage
- 911 call recordings can also be a good resource.
- More Practice:
- Go to a place where the kids can’t see you. Ask questions about your eye color, the clothing you’re wearing, etc.
- Arrange 30 items on a tray. Let the students look at it for 30 seconds. Then take the tray away. How many items can they remember?
- CIA Photo Analysis Game
- CIA Memory Game
- P.E. - Prepare for the FBI Physical Fitness Test:
- DAY FOUR - Run: Run 1.5 miles (for time).
Friday: Criminal Profiling
- Criminal profiling refers to the process in which the nature of a crime is used to make inferences about the personality and other characteristics of the likely offender in order to locate and capture the said offender.
- Games: Play Guess Who
- P.E. - Take the FBI Physical Fitness Test:
- Sit-ups: Do as many continuous sit-ups as possible in one minute.
- Sprint: Sprint for 300 meters (for time).
- Push-ups: Do as many continuous push-ups as you can (not for time).
- Run: Run 1.5 miles (for time).
- Play a lifesize version of CLUE - Set up a life-sized game board in the rooms of your house, put the cards in a Manilla folder, dress up as the characters, put items in different rooms, and call it that way
- Media: Watch CLUE
Saturday: Field Trip to an Escape Room to put your new inferencing skills to good use!
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