10 Students Complete Maui 2021 CSI Camp

The Maui Police Department welcomed its ninth class of C.S.I. Camp graduates during a ceremony on Friday. The camp, consisting of juniors and seniors from Baldwin High School, Hawaiʻi Technology Academy, Kaiser High School, Kamehameha Schools Maui, Kīhei Charter School, and Maui High School, completed 40 hours of instruction during the week-long program.

To qualify for the program, the selected 10 students had to submit an application, essay, and letter of reference from a teacher before going through a 15-minute interview. This procedure allows students to experience an admission process similar to what they may encounter throughout their working careers, including an evaluation after completing the program.

The camp is offered to participants at no cost and is hosted by the Maui Police Department annually, with last year being the exception due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The goal of the C.S.I. Camp is to have a program that invites students to learn more about law enforcement-related careers while inspiring them to appreciate their continuing studies in science classes.

Topics included crime scene photography, scene diagramming, evidence identification, documentation and collection, testing for blood and seized drugs, fingerprints, cybercrimes, impression evidence, pathology, and witnessing an autopsy.

A total of 31-guest presenters, including instructors from the Maui Police Department, Maui Fire Department, Maui Prosecutors Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Evidence Response Team, offered hands-on demonstrations to camp attendees.

Once proficient in the standard crime scene investigation methods and techniques learned, the students were tasked with processing mock crime scenes, presenting their unique crime scenes to the rest of the group, and testifying in mock court regarding their documentation and evidence handling procedures.

The Maui Prosecutors Office coordinated sessions in the Wailuku Courthouse, which included witnessing judicial proceedings, practicing courtroom testimony as forensic experts by having students testify on the stand in mock court fashion with questions from prosecutors relating to the crime scenes processed during the week.