ROP student Jeff Crawford, left, and Matt Spieth, both seniors, take notes while playing detective at a mock gang-related shooting crime scene on Thursday morning at Lincoln School off Cherokee Lane. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)

CSI: Lodi, students break down a 'crime scene'

The crime scene was obviously staged — the "victim" was a stuffed dummy — but that didn't prevent high school students from pulling out measuring tapes and noting the position of bullet casings.

"How do you know he fired twice? What kind of gun was used? ... How can you tell he actually fired?" their teacher, Lodi Police Officer Sierra Brucia, asked Thursday. "These are all things we need to think about."

The ROP students, wearing blue polo shirts with police logos on the front, had split into groups of six before taking turns playing detectives at a mock gang-related shooting.

As in a real crime scene, each student signed their name on a clipboard before entering the "crime scene" at Lincoln School off Cherokee Lane.

Once inside the yellow crime scene tape, they observed a dummy with bullet wounds, a fake gun resting in his hand, a bandana tied around his arm and an empty bottle to his side. Nearby, a baseball bat was adorned with a rival gang's bandana. Brass knuckles, a chain and spent casings were scattered further away.

The students come from high schools within the Lodi Unified School District ranging from Liberty to Tokay to Bear Creek. The course gives them a taste of criminal justice work.

ROP students Jeff Crawford, center, and Shaun Steward, right, listen to Lodi Police Officer Sierra Brucia as he talks about the proper protocol for collecting and handling evidence. At left, Robert Sanchez takes notes on the crime scene. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)

After seeing what the field is really like, some students will pursue careers in law enforcement, others will head into law and some will take up completely different professions.

Thursday's exercise followed classroom learning but it wasn't just fun outside in the sunshine: Each then had to return to class, draw a diagram of the crime scene and write a summary of the apparent crime.

It also tested their observation skills — they thought the "suspect" had fired six rounds because they saw six casings grouped together, but Brucia cautioned one group.

"Did you do a proper crime scene search, or did you wander around aimlessly?" he asked.

The students then spread out to conduct a "grid search," each taking a section of the area, and one student soon spotted a seventh casing.

Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.