Davidson County 4-H camp focuses on how to use science and math when investigating crimes
Criminal investigations are not something people normally associate with 4-H but recently students from the area participated in a camp where they learned how to solve crimes.
Last week, Davidson County 4-H hosted students from five other local counties for a three-day summer camp focusing on criminal investigations using science, technology, engineering and math.
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“The main point is to get the kids familiar with forensic science and STEM education, but also to teach them potential criminal justice career fields that they can go into. They can interview the local professionals and learn what it takes to get into those positions,” said Matt Barber, 4-H and Youth Development agent for the Davidson County NC Cooperative Extension.
The camp is for rising 6th, 7th and 8th graders and included students from Davidson, Alamance, Rockingham, Caswell and Forsyth.
According to Barber, on the first day of the camp students are given a fake murder case and use different techniques, including fingerprinting, blood typing, DNA extraction and footprint impressions to develop suspects. On the final day, they reveal their results and find out whether they were correct.
During the second day of camp, students toured the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, the Davidson County Courthouse and the Davidson County Jail.
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At the courthouse students got to hear from judges and attorneys about their role in prosecuting criminals. They also learned about each stage of a trial and the different laws for different crimes. The group also toured the county jail.
At the sheriff’s department, campers were able to learn about how criminal evidence is collected, stored and examined. They also learned about the different equipment used by the sheriff’s office, including the K9 units, motorcycle patrol, water rescue and SWAT team.
Although the 4-H investigators camp has been held in other counties previously, it is the first time Davidson County has hosted the event.
“I really, really, really love 4-H,” said camper Bella Hedrick. “You get to learn all types of stuff. I never knew that you could tell so much from just a person's footprint or how much difference there is in your fingerprints. If I can come back next year, I probably will...It’s really fun.”
Another camper, Aiden Wilson said he really like learning about all the different departments at the sheriff’s office and the equipment they use.
“My favorite part was the motorcycles and the dogs. I also learned about how to investigate crime,” said Aiden.
Cpl. Chris Azleton with the Davidson County Sheriff's Office Crime Prevention Department said it is important for local law enforcement to engage with the community, especially with students.
“Most of the time when people think of law enforcement they don't think of science and math,” said Azelton. “So, we like them to come in here not only to see what we do, but to understand there's a lot of different facets to the Sheriff's Office...They see that we use computer labs and all kinds of different stuff; that there is a mathematical equation you use for blood spatters. It just gets them started to understand that we solve crimes by using science and math.”
Barber said the camp also teaches students that solving and prosecuting crimes is not like they see on television, and it takes a lot of technical and legal work. He said the ultimate goal is to show these students that math and science are integral parts of many different careers.
"STEM is a major focus of 4-H,” said Barber. “Forensics and all the science that goes into police investigation and prosecuting crimes definitely lines up with STEM education.”
General news reporter Sharon Myers can be reached at sharon.myers@the-dispatch.com. Follow her on Twitter @LexDispatchSM.
This article originally appeared on The Dispatch: Davidson County 4-H camp focuses on science and math to investigate crime
