MANSFIELD, Ohio — It’s not often that boys and girls are put in handcuffs, let alone enjoy it.
But as part of the first North Central State College CSI Camp hosted at the Urban Center this week a number of the campers were in handcuffs, though one petite girl did slip out of them. The experience was part of camp, which was funded by a grant.
CSI Camp started Monday with a trip to the Mansfield Police Department Public Safety Communications Center (PSCC), where participants learned about the case they would work through the week. Their assignment was to investigate a burglary.
Thursday they explored police, highway patrol, sheriff and SWAT vehicles. They also reviewed the equipment in the vehicles, paying particular attention to the unloaded weapons. Approximately 30 children were enrolled in the camp.
“That they got a chance to see the whole investigative process, from when the call comes in to dispatch, all the way through court, police investigations, was a rewarding experience,” said Craig Ali, assistant dean of Education Professional and Public Service.
“Officer Lamadue of the Mansfield Police Department’s Impact unit, his police Explorers, helped with the camp. They served as kind of camp counselors, guides. There’s a lot of scenarios we did and they set them up and they participated in them. These are crime scenes they actually used for competition in the police Explorer program, so they were a really big help to us,” Ali said.
“We started with a burglary break-in, then it became an aggravated burglary with felonious assault with a gun specification,” Lamadue explained. “Judge Brent Robinson did a fantastic job with them at court. The kids had a lot of questions.”
“I like that we get to hold the guns and run the sirens,” Anthony Hopkins said Thursday as officers allowed them to explore their vehicles.
Deputy G.D. Kiener displayed an AR-15 to campers. He explained that it’s a long distance rifle saying, “Hopefully I’ll never have to use it.”
Highway Patrolman Jason Beck, from the Mansfield Post, told a gathered group of children, “Everything you do matters if you want to be a police officer: your grades, listening to your parents…”
During the week they arrived at the “crime scene” for information gathering and securing the scene and first aid for victims.
They also walked to the Mansfield police crime lab for a question and answer session with Crime Lab Director Tony Tambasco They subsequently learned about fingerprinting, photographing, field sketches, and securing evidence. The week continued with interviewing and interrogating, lineups and pressing charges.
Thursday was a big day, the culmination of the case the children were “investigating.”
They visited Common Pleas Court for a session with Judge Brent Robinson, visited the prosecutor’s office, and a mock trial. Back at the Urban Center, camp attendees didn’t just see police, sheriff, and highway patrol cars, they sat in them.
Thursday’s camp finale also included a visit from Mansfield SWAT K-9 Officer Ryan Gardner and his dog Elliot. Gardner explained that Elliot was three years old. He is used for patrol duty and tracking criminals.
“Mostly what we use him for are drug searches,” Gardner said. “He also performs article searches, like a gun in tall grass that a human can’t see.”
“Does he know a lot of names,” asked Jenna Reitler. Garnder explained that Elliot is trained to follow different commands.
After Lamadue donned a protective sleeve to allow Elliot to “apprehend” him, Reitler asked, “Were you terrified.” Lamadue replied, “I’m always nervous every time he comes at me.”
Thursday’s exploration event at Temple Court concluded with a visit from Sgt. Patrick Williams of Mansfield ASORT (Allied Special Operations Response) and SWAT. Williams described the personal protective gear including vest, shield and helmet, and described the use of the AR-15. He described the SWAT vehicle as a BearCat.
“It’s armored, it weighs 38,000 pounds, and it’s bulletproof,” he said.
“In a situation where SWAT would be called, it could be when someone has barricaded himself into a house or has a hostage. Most of what we do is involved with detective investigations and search warrants.”
“It was really fun,” Sophie Tridico said of the week’s camp, over the noise of the siren in the sheriff’s car she was sitting in. Beside her, Maison Carter from Millersburg said he was visiting his grandmother. He added, “I enjoyed doing the crime scenes.”
