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Mock Homicide Training Beneficial for Local Police Departments

Posted at 1:16 PM, Jun 04, 2014
and last updated 2014-06-05 05:08:27-04

LANSING, Mich. (June 4, 2014) — While you hope to never need them, it’s comforting to know law enforcement is around to help. And a group of officers and new detectives, including some from West Michigan, are receiving even more training to investigate homicides as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

The Michigan State Police Training Division and Michigan State University School of Criminal Justice is hosting a homicide scene preservation and investigation training for law enforcement officers from across the state. The training provides officers with knowledge and hands-on experience in preserving and investigating different types of crime scenes.

Officers participate in mock crime scene scenarios to practice their skills in crime scene preservation, evidence collection, homicide investigation and media relations.

“What happens is a lot of officers might initially respond through their career to a homicide but they’ve never been on the ground where they’re actually investigating it,” explained Detective 1st Lt. Chuck Christensen with the MSP Paw Paw Post.

Even though it’s a controlled environment, MSP try to make the training as real as possible.

“You want to make sure you don’t make any mistakes and do everything correct so when it does get to a court situation, you have all your “I’s” dotted and “t’s” crossed,” added Det. Christensen

The school is held once a year in Lansing, and only 30 students are accepted at a time, making for quite the waiting list.

Their course is paid for by each officer’s own department.

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