Perrysburg residents practice police skills at mock crime scene

The emergency operations center in the basement of the Perrysburg police building was a mess Wednesday night.

Chairs were overturned, computer terminals were in disarray, and there was a bright red stain on the carpet and a red-stained napkin hanging off the side of a waste-paper bin. A cellphone was left on the table and a coffee mug on the copying machine.

“This was all super neat and orderly when I left,” said Perrysburg police detective Shannon Kociancic. She was talking to a group of Perrysburg residents who signed up for the police department’s citizens academy that started Sept. 11.

The topic Wednesday was processing a mock crime scene and the trainees’ task was to notice as many breaking-and-entering clues as they could by looking for things out of place, figure out when to use fingerprint lifting versus DNA swabbing, and ask the victim relevant questions that would point to the suspect.

Detective Kociancic played the role of the victim, a divorced woman whose home office was burglarized while she was away on vacation.

Detective Sgt. Jerrod Parsell, who briefed the trainees about proper evidence collection and interviewing victims at crime scenes before the mock crime scene experience, warned them not to be discouraged if the scene feels a bit overwhelming.

When this happens in real life, he noted investigators may call for help from fellow detectives or — in more serious cases, such as homicides —- from the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Trainees took about 30 minutes Wednesday to identify the main clues, suggest the best spots for fingerprint lifting and DNA swabbing, interview the victim to find out in part that “at least a laptop” was missing, she was gone for a week, and there were no signs of forced entry.

The “very preliminary” consensus was “the dog sitter did it,” while other suspects included the victim’s “drug using son” and “nosy neighbors.”

Christina Knestrick, a self-described Perrysburg stay-at-home mom who participated in the Wednesday exercise, said what impressed her the most was that in addition to classroom studies, police instructors put the trainees into an environment where they can use the skills that they learn in class, such as lifting fingerprints or recognizing crime clues.

“I think in normal real life, anyone can use those skills, just in problem solving with issues they may have,” said Ms.Knestrick, one of about 12 participating trainees.

“On a side note, I am a real crime junkie, so I am very interested in this. It’s kind of interesting to see what they do in all aspects of police work,” she said.

The free, 10-week program is held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays at the police department in downtown Perrysburg.

Along with crime scene processing and evidence collection, the program includes the operations of the patrol and detective bureaus, use-of-force applications, firearms, search and seizure law, defensive tactics, and the Ohio Revised Code.

Trainees also get to ride along with officers on patrol and participate in a mock crime trial at Perrysburg Municipal Court.

“This gives them an understanding of our work,” Detective Kociancic said. “... We want to build those community relationships and showing them what we do really helps with that. ... It helps when we can all work together as a community.”