Pocono News Section

I-Team Special Report: Crime Scene Investigators In Class

I-Team Special Report: Crime Scene Investigators In Class - Thursday, November 8, 2007 at 10:29PM EST

Reported by: Joe Holden
Thursday, Nov 8, 2007 @10:29pm EST
MANSFIELD-Investigators hope to uncover the secrets surrounding a 30-year-old brutal homicide...
New technology could thaw this cold case.

A former police officer is convicted, blood spatter experts put a loaded gun in his hand... A jury threw him in jail for life...
The world of crime scene investigation dawned years ago... And continues its pace to erase shadows of doubt.
That world begins here.

It's a marriage of chemistry and law enforcement.

There's math, physics and law...
Mansfield Chemistry Professor, Dr. Scott Davis says his students have to want the truth.
"They have to have ability, they have to have strength of character and tenacity to go after this.
It's not a simple degree."

Few students make it through Mansifeld University's course for crime scene investigators.

Senior Sara Livingston will soon move her skills to the real world. "I want to find an answer, data, something that will say anything, really, I want to find something and that's what keeps me pushing."

One of the first things students learn is crime scene investigation is nothing like what we see on the television shows.
Cases aren't solved in mere minutes.
And results, they're not always perfect

Sara Livingston adds "It definitely doesn't turn out the way you want to every time.
You don't positives every time.
You don't find the bad guy in under 60 minutes."

Sara says she's not obsessed, just motivated by the unexplained...

Dr. Scott Davis notes "Scientists talk about hypotheses, criminal justice system talks about truth and they have to understand there's a distinction there. They have to understand where they can draw that line."

Dr. Davis says it's a critical time for his world of crime scene detectives.
There's a demand for more labs and more money.
Right now, case load out paces available work space.
He hopes money and the obvious value his field offers change that.