CSI: Altadena

Tuesday was the big day for the young criminal investigators:  there was a body and a bloody crime scene at Farnsworth Park.  Could they find out who committed the crime, and gather the evidence to convict the criminal?

CSI Camp in Altadena was well underway.  The camp is being run by Dep. Scott Rule at the Altadena Sheriff’s Station as a way to introduce youth ages 11-14 to criminal investigative work.  During the week-long camp, the budding investigators will learn the way law enforcement investigates crime scenes, teaching them skills such as fingerprinting, collecting and preserving evidence, and using what they’ve found out to apprehend and convict criminals.

But Tuesday was a key day:  a “body” — fortunately, it was just a mannequin — was found in the kitchen at the Davies Building in Farnsworth Park.  The 23 students who signed up for the camp broke into teams to learn how about the different aspects of investigation, from being alerted by fire department paramedics to the nitty-gritty of collecting fingerprints, analyzing shoe prints and blood stains, and finally tracking down the “criminal” — who ended up being one of the campers.

They were guided by deputies and crime scene investigators from the Los Angeles Sheriff Department who are working at the camp.  There was even a reporter, played by Christina Gonzalez of Fox News, to whom the campers rehearsed a terse “No comment.”

CSI camp continues through Friday.