Mock Crime Scenes Test New Rochelle High School Students

Forensic science students at New Rochelle High School worked their way through six mock crime scenes Tuesday as part of a 200-point final exam.

Held at New Rochelle's Nature Study Woods, the mock crime scenes were set up in conjunction with the New Rochelle Police Department.

Forensic science teacher Scott Rubins divided the students into six groups who worked together gathering and processing evidence and taking pictures at the six "crime scenes."

This is the eighth year he has conducted the mock crime scene final exam.

Rubins said the way the students go about their task is not unlike the way a real crime scene would be worked.

"The crime scene people come up accompanied by police," he said. "Sometimes it's a lot of information they find, sometimes very little."

Members of the New Rochelle Police Department are stationed at each scene watching the students gather the evidence, grading them on various criteria, including paying attention to detail, properly packaging evidence, interviewing witnesses and maintaining a chain of custody.

Points are taken away for damaging or destroying evidence, not wearing gloves where necessary or using equipment incorrectly—serious breaches of real crime scene protocol.

Rubins is interested in how the students work the scene and gather the information, not reaching a conclusion or a resolution to the "crime."

And it is also not about turning out students who will go into the profession.

"This class is about thinking and processing," Rubins said. "They need to know where to find (evidence) and when to look for it."

One final step will take place back in the classroom when the students prepare and present a 20-minute PowerPoint presentation on the evidence they gathered.

"It's as if they were presenting it to investigators or a jury," Rubins said.

He said it was all about the "who, what, where, when and why" and the methods of how they did everything.

Among the "crime scenes" Rubins concocted were a body that had been shot, a body found in a storm drain, a possible hunting accident and an abduction and robbery.

Rubins is the first to admit he couldn't set up six mock scenes three times in one day all by himself.

Some of his former students showed up to assist.

Jessica Tozzo, 18, who will be a sophomore at Clark University in Worchester, MA, in the fall, came back to her hometown to help with the final exam.

"It's nice to see how the kids have learned from the program," she said.

Tozzo said she increased her problem-solving skills studying forensics and learned to work with a team.

"It's nothing but details," she said.

Carlos Rodriguez, 18, a senior at New Rochelle High School, is planning to go into forensic science after he graduates from Penn State.

"It filled me up with adrenaline and joy," he said. "I'm pretty certain I will continue with it."

The biggest thing he has learned from his forensic studies is patience.

"You don't always get answers quickly," Rodriguez said.

New Rochelle Police Sgt. Barry Johnson said the program benefits his department by getting the students interested in forensic science.

"We see it as a win-win," he said. "We get to interact with the young people and they get a taste of reality."

Amanda Domo and Maribel Lopez took a quick break from processing "evidence" from an abandoned car.

Lopez, 18, is a senior who plans on attending the College of St. Rose in Albany in the fall.

She said she was interested in television programs like CSI.

What is portrayed on TV, Lopez said, is not the real job.

"They make it look like a glamorous job," she said. "It's a lot of hard work. It's an important job."

Domo, 18, who will be trading her gloves and evidence bags for a viola when she performs with other New Rochelle High School students at Lincoln Center Wednesday, said she want to be a journalist after she graduates college.

She finds similarities between forensic science and journalism.

"The pressure is everywhere and it brings it back down to looking for things that aren't necessarily seen," Domo said. "(They) help find out the truth."