Forensic Simulation Workshops

30 July 2007

Our renowned experts in forensic sciences have been running courses providing experience and practical training through simulated exercises.

Our renowned experts in forensic sciences have been leading three unique short courses this month, all focusing on simulated exercises to provide ‘real life’ experiences and practical training.

Our series of workshops began with the sports hall being converted into a temporary mortuary where students were supervised, monitored and mentored by world experts in the field.

The activities included the arrival of ‘special effects’ body parts – brought in from Hollywood – from a simulated helicopter crash, which closely followed a real-case scenario.

The participants then investigated and uncovered the contents of a simulated Mass Grave at Holton Lee, near Wareham in Dorset.

Led by BU experts with experience of excavating and gathering evidence from mass graves in Iraq and Bosnia, this field school focused on scientific excavation and evidence gathering.

As with the temporary mortuary exercise, the burial scenarios followed real-case examples, including the detection and removal of simulated cremated remains, and the use of plastic skeletons featuring real clothing and artefacts to accentuate the reality of the site. Great effort was taken to make the exercise as realistic as possible.

Ian Hanson, Lecturer in Forensic Archaeology, said: “This site is very similar to sites I have worked on in Bosnia. This provides an excellent learning experience for the students to help them build on their knowledge and skills.

“The students have done a very good job here, they are skilled enough now in the process, team work and understanding. I think they could go off and do this work for real.”

During the final week of the programme, the attention focused on Air Crash Scene Recoveries, which involved a simulated crash site and the use of the University’s crime house, Rose Cottage, near Bournemouth town centre.

In addition to focusing on victim recovery from an air crash scene, the course tested the forensic and crime scene skills of participants by requiring them to explore and investigate a suspected bomb-making house, extending the simulated investigations from the crash scene to the crime house.

“The students investigated the crash scene the day before and were given a brief to find evidence of terrorist behaviour and bomb-making equipment at the house,” says Gareth Roberts, Forensic Science Lecturer.

“These courses are essential for students who will be one day working on real crime scenes and may have to search for evidence of terrorism, but also for those professionals already out in the field who wish to update their skills and knowledge.”

The importance of the preparatory nature of this exercise has been heightened by the recent attempt to explode a vehicle-based homemade bomb at Glasgow International Airport.