Youth cadets discovers CSI class

Louisiana Delta Community College offered Richland Parish area high school students a glimpse into the real life of a crime scene investigator on Wednesday, as the CSI Youth Cadet Academy visited the school’s CSI Lab and Crime Scene House.

The ten students who participated in the event also participated in last year’s event and are now in an advanced class that looks more in-depth into the world of not just CSI, but other law enforcement careers as well.

Rebekah Crawford, one of the students in in the Academy, said she’s learned a lot about technique, and also the requirements to starting off her career as a DNA analyst – she plans to attend LDCC for her first two undergraduate years.

“We’ve done a lot with DNA, and last year we did a lot with fingerprinting,” Crawford said. “This year, I learned about the courses I would have to take, and that there’s a difference in focus between field work and lab work.”

Claire Shepard, forensic science instructor at LDCC, led the students in a discussion of what types of career paths can emanate from a degree in forensic science, and took students on a tour of the school’s crime scene house, where mock crime scenes are set up for forensic science students to analyze.

Shepard said it’s one thing for those interested in forensic science to be influenced by popular TV shows such as the CSI or NCIS series, but it’s imperative that students get hands on classroom and practical experience.

“It’s totally different when you get out in the field,” Shepard said. “We want students to be prepared for how crime scene investigation, or even lab work in the real world really functions.”