This high school forensic final exam is a total crime scene

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — There were eight separate crime scenes in a Westchester County forest this week, but an army of detectives from nearby New Rochelle High School descended on the park to carefully examine the evidence.

On Tuesday, over 200 students had to solve a “crime” to pass their forensic science courses. The final exam took place at the recreated crime scenes in the Nature Study Woods.

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“Students are not expected to solve the crime – that's a whole other course of study,” forensics teacher Scott Rubins told Patch. “We work toward this day the entire school year.” [Students] are graded on how they process the crime scene, not on whether they solve a mystery. This is their chance to show that they understand. They can do the real work of real crime scene investigators and make what they do in class look authentic.”

For the most exciting final exam of the school year, 40 students each took on the role of forensic investigators, photographers and evidence technicians to examine the recreated crime scene.

Uniformed members of the New Rochelle Police Department acted as first responders at the scene and assisted teachers in grading students' work.

The officers who arrived at the scene before the juniors and seniors gave each group a brief situation report and explained that the crime scene was safe.

Carefully following protocol and ensuring that not a single detail was overlooked, the students, each with their own task, began searching the crime scene for evidence.

“We were a little nervous, but once we started doing our thing, we got going and it was good,” junior Jacob Wong-Dunn confessed to the school administration. “We found our rhythm. We kept pushing each other and saying, 'We can do this.'”

The previously talkative teenagers get down to business, coordinate with their classmates, communicate briefly and professionally and ensure that the chain of custody of all evidence found is maintained.

“I think we missed something here.”

“What do you see?”

“I don't know, but I need an evidence marker and a ruler.”

Rubins said the next step for the students will be working in the lab to evaluate and examine the evidence they have collected before presenting their cases in the courtroom-style classroom and contesting their findings. The presentations will include their crime scene and evidence photos, the rationale for processing their crime scenes, their lab request documents and their conclusions.

Several former students returned to help Tuesday, including some who currently work in law enforcement, including Putnam County Sheriff's Deputy Victoria Crimmins.

“She's the one in charge,” Rubins said of his former student. “When we're done, we'll organize everything for next year and pack it away. She won't let me touch anything.”

It's been 24 years since Rubins first attempted the massive undertaking that has made his course one of the most popular among students despite its demanding curriculum. As he led city and school officials, including New Rochelle Mayor Yadira Ramos-Herbert, through gruesome scenes of murder and mayhem, he pointed to the body in the drainpipe and seniors dressed in CSI shirts, students carefully controlling access to areas behind police tape and even a car hauled in as an abandoned car in the woods.

“We're here every year, rain or shine – I definitely prefer this,” Rubins said, referring to the perfect weather in late May. “But it's like I always tell my students: You can control the crime scene, but you can't control the elements.”