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Imagine youre a police officer investigating a case of troublemaking at Simmons Farm in Peters Township.

Apples are smashed all over the ground. Critters from the petting zoo have been set loose. Its a mess.

Then you receive a call a man is down in an East McMurray Road office building. His wife has checked on him after she couldnt reach him, and shes not sure if hes breathing. She also had seen a man fleeing from the back of the building.

Thats the scenario presented by Officer Gary Orosz during the May 30 session of Peters Townships first offering of its Citizens Police Academy. The six-week program, which runs through June 13, addresses a variety of law-enforcement topics, including crime scene investigation.

To simulate the scene of the crime at the office, the police departments community room was full of potential clues: a wooden facsimile of a handgun on a couch, with an empty bottle of Don Julio next to it; a table representing a desk with chairs and computer equipment knocked down; a gasoline can with papers strewn nearby; a toilet seat on a chair with a window frame above; and a mannequin, complete with a red spot representing blood next to its head.

As academy participants perused the various items, medics entered the room to tend to the victim, stretcher and all.

Orosz and fellow Officer Pat Mazzotta proceeded to discuss the situation with participants, who offered suggestions about how to go about processing the scene by considering various clues.

Maybe a footprint on the toilet seat, ventured Annie Ritacco.

With a nod and a smile, Orosz acknowledged a key piece of evidence, as the perpetrator in his scenario, indeed, climbed on the seat before heading out the window. And he explained how something like that once helped him solve a burglary after he couldnt pull any fingerprints at the scene.

Just for the heck of it, to see if a shoeprint would show up, I used black fingerprint powder, he said. I dusted the top of that toilet seat, and there was a perfect tennis shoe print.

He brought the prime suspect into his office for an interview, and while the suspect was seated, he readjusted his foot to reveal the bottom of his shoe. Orosz, in turn, showed him a photo of the toilet-seat shoeprint, along with a file folder full of fingerprints.

I said, What do you think is going to happen when I send them to the crime lab? These will be matching fingerprints, Orosz recalled, with the clincher: They werent even his.

He said, All right. I did it.

Thats pretty much what happened in the Citizens Police Academy scenario, after the perpetrator drank tequila, shot the victim and then tried to torch the place, before the arrival of the wife caused him to flee.

During the session, participants had the opportunity for some hands-on techniques such as dusting for fingerprints and using tape to lift them from various items at the scene.

As for starting his scenario at Simmons Farm, Orosz explained the relevance by evoking memories of a 1995 double-murder trial that resulted in acquittal.

Look at the O.J. case, Orosz said about tactics that worked toward Simpsons 1995 acquittal, because the cops walked through blood. You dont have a choice. You dont know if theres a killer still in there. They had to clear that. They had to check on the bodies. They didnt have a choice but to walk through things.

The defense lawyers used that to their advantage, claiming:

You guys ruined that crime scene. It was a sloppy job by police. Everybody ruined it.

Thats why I gave the example of being at the farm, Orosz said, and walking through smashed apples and who knows what was on your boots.

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Police present CSI: Peters Township as part of citizen's academy - Observer-Reporter