By Sloane M. Perron, Manager of Marketing Communications
In an on-campus field trip, Dr. Ann Marie Mires, Director of the Forensic Criminology Program, coordinated a demonstration with the Massachusetts State Police for her Forensic Archaeology class. State Troopers launched an airborne drone to show some ways that technology is used to locate a missing person and the class received hands-on experience on how cadaver dogs are used to detect evidence. During the demonstration, students were given four different scenarios they had to solve by probing the dirt around campus to assist the cadaver dog in his search and by analyzing clues provided by the State Police officers. Not only did students solve the case, but the out-of-the-classroom exercise gave them a deeper understanding of the technologies and methods used by law enforcement in missing persons and murder cases.
The demonstration was coordinated by Lt. Kevin O’Hara who leads the Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) for the Mass State Police. The SERT team demonstration consisted of Lt. Kevin O’Hara, Tpr. Jeff Bermani, Tpr. Dan Kelly, and Tpr. Eugene Lawrence. Tpr. Brian Frechette was the K-9 Officer on scene who strategized tactical operations while the drone demonstration was conducted by Lt. Mike George.
A special thanks to Massachusetts State Police Officers for sharing their expertise with students at Anna Maria College and for bringing these rapid response tools into the classroom to create an engaging learning experience for students.
