A serious crime is expected to take place later today on the campus of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
But it’s a crime that has been setup by the criminal justice, theater and biomedical science students.
This demonstration will give Islander students an opportunity to analyze a crime scene and speak with local professionals while gaining insight into the process.
“We are going to show parts of the crime scene, how people work the scene, how many players that are involved, which are quite a few. We are also going to show a little bit about how a scene is a mix of science and people, humanity. So, have these people come in and work the scene and kind of get a sense of emotion, non-emotion, and all of the other elements,” said assistant professor of criminal justice Dr. Wendi Pollock.
During the demo, professors will show students the difference between what they see on television in comparison to what’s happening in real life.
“Our students in criminal justice are coming out to get a sense of how all the players come together, because we tend to teach class one section at a time, one piece at a time,” said Pollock.
This event will paint a good picture of how criminal justice works as a whole; from forensics, to law, police work, criminology and criminal motivations.
“And also to give them a little time with people in this field, we will have some of the local police department out, we will have people from the courts out. And they can come out and talk to them, and actually, it springboards internships, springboards future careers for sure,” said Pollock.
The goal for this event is to get students excited to pursue work in the Criminal Justice field.
“We want people to come to the classroom, but, in general, it is a good way to learn. You remember things when you can touch them, see them, process through them, and interact with the professionals that do it. And it is hard to do that at any one place, so we try to pull that together for people,” said Pollock.
To learn more about the criminal justice program at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, go to http://cla.tamucc.edu/socialsciences/criminal_justice/cj_index.htm
Students will stage the live crime scene on Wednesday, April 11, from noon to 1:30 p.m. on the second floor of the Mary and Jeff Bell Library.
The scene will be complete with a ‘dead body’ with realistic wounds molded by theatre students and faculty, and blood splatter, compliments of biomedical sciences and criminal justice students and faculty.
The ‘victim’ of the scene will be played by a top Island University administrator.
Once the scene is set, students will demonstrate how to work a crime scene from the moment when police first arrive through the crime lab and into the courtroom.
Those in the audience will be invited to guess who the ‘murderer’ is based on clues left behind.
Once the scene ends, faculty and students involved in the demonstration will share more about the criminal justice, theatre and biomedical sciences programs at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
