Fingerprints, blood spatter evidence and DNA samples were collected Friday morning at the old Carter County Jail, not as part of an ongoing criminal investigation but for the annual Northeast Tennessee CSI competition.
Nearly 100 students on 21 teams representing seven area high schools took part in the event Friday as part of their criminal justice classes at their respective schools.
This year’s even was hosted by the Carter County Sheriff’s Department in the old jail, where mock crime scenes were set up for the students to investigate.
Like a scene from the popular TV show, students descended upon their crime scenes with evidence collection kits and began searching for clues and collecting what they found.
Teams were given the following scenario for their crime scene to guide them in their work: “Approximately two hours ago, a riot started in a cell block at the Carter County Jail. During the riot, a certain sect of prisoners — possibly a new criminal street gang to the area — struck another inmate in the head and stabbed him, resulting in life-threatening injuries. The victim was taken to the hospital, where he later died from his wounds. It is believed this homicide is gang-related. Your assignment is to process the scene inside your designated area of the cell block. Several other teams have been called in to process the scene since this incident is believed to have been a conspiracy long in the making and involves dozens of prisoners and possibly even others not incarcerated at the jail.”
Each team then was given 90 minutes to process its crime scene.
Once on scene, the students began searching and collecting evidence and documenting their crime scenes with photographs.
Elizabethton High School teacher Ryan Presnell, who coordinated the event with the other participating schools, said the competition helps provide experience to the students participating in the criminal justice programs.
“It gives them 100 percent experience of what it’s like to investigate a crime scene,” Presnell said.
As the teams worked their crime scene, Presnell said a local law enforcement professional was assigned to watch them and score their performances. Teams were graded in 15 categories: team briefing, crime scene security, initial walk-through procedure, DNA collection and packaging, latent fingerprint lifting techniques, impression evidence procedure, blood spatter evidence collection and analysis, field sobriety testing and analysis, photographic documentation, physical evidence collection, search techniques, exit procedures, reporting and professionalism. A total of 10 points was possible in each of the 15 categories, allowing for a possible total score of 150 points.
“This gives them the opportunity to display what they’ve learned through the curriculum,” Presnell said.
Presnell said many of the students in the criminal justice programs are interested in careers in law enforcement and the competition helps them determine whether the career is a good fit and allows them to meet and network with law enforcement officers. Last year, he said, a participant in the competition was able to set up an internship with a local department through contacts he made during the competition.
“If you can meet people who can mentor you and train you, it will be a large benefit to your career,” Presnell said.
As a law enforcement officer himself, Presnell knows the importance of networking in the field. He is currently a Carter County Constable representing the eighth district. He began his career as a probation officer, is a former FBI agent and gained his experience working counter-terrorism operations with the U.S. Army in Iraq.
At the end of the day on Friday, the competition was close, Presnell said. The winning team was Sullivan East High School’s Team 2, with an over all score of 142 points out of 150. They won out by a margin of one point.
Law enforcement agencies represented during the competition were the CCSD, Elizabethton Police Department, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, FBI, Johnson City Police Department, Greene County Sheriff’s Office and the Walters State Police Academy.