Ocean City Students Investigate Through Forensic Science Course

(Correction: It was reported in earlier versions of this story that Gene Taylor is retired. He is chief of detectives in the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office.)

Ocean City High School gives students a chance to bring out their inner detective skills and put them to good use.

More than a year ago, a forensics class was added to the curriculum as an elective for junior and seniors. The class is taught by Jennifer Bowen, who has a background in chemistry and science. "Bio Tech Forensics" involves guest speakers, authentic labs and a great hands-on experience in crime scene investigations.

"I think it's fantastic, and it's another way to see science and motion in the real world," Bowen says.

Students who started in the first year of the new class had a great time. Bowen showed them how true-life forensic science and crime-scene investigation differs from what is seen on television.

Classes go through chapters and learn observation skills, evidence collection, study of hair and fibers, DNA fingerprinting, blood spatter, toxicology, drug identification, forensic anthropology, casts and impressions, death, glass and tool marks. It seems like a lot to cover in just 180 days, but students work hard to get it done.

Senior Jake Johnson thinks that it is all worth it.

"Because I am going to study criminal justice in college, I think it will help," Johnson said. "It's really accurate.  And Mrs. Bowen is the best teacher."

Labs include looking at hair under a microscope, fingerprinting with guests from the Ocean City Police Department and even visiting crime scenes.

In the class, students go into the school's courtyard to examine, photograph, record and sketch mock evidence that has been "discovered." Each photographic image has to have a ruler and a compass to show perspective, and evidence must be correctly recorded and bagged.

On television, the investigators get immediate answers to all their questions, but students learn that in the real world answers could take from weeks to months.

The crime scene lab takes about a week to complete, and the students even have a captain of each team that reports back to Bowen, just as in a chain of command in the real world. Other things that students learn range from deceased body structures, putting pieces together of the crime scene and a chapter devoted solely to toxicology.

Another chapter focuses on bones. Students study tibias and skulls to decide if the deceased is Caucasian, Asian or African-American.

Speaker Gene Taylor, chief of detectives in the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office, visited within the first week. He brought photo evidence and students were perplexed. Another guest was a former undercover narcotics investigator, who came with PowerPoint presentations and stories of drug busts.

All of the speakers make what students are learning a little more realistic. And, as in real life, Bowen will not tolerate sloppy detective work. 

A high-profile case in town was also studied when the police department brought in the real story boards that were used in a court case involving a pedestrian who was killed in an accident on 14th Street.

The boards showed photographs of views that were seen from the witnesses on their porches. With no cameras at the intersection, and the witnesses not seeing anything, the case was hard to determine.

The speakers told the class that it truly was an accident—the driver of the car stopped at a stop sign and had accelerated to 17 mph when he hit the victim. Students found this presentation very interesting, since it happened in their town. Also with this event, the officers showed tire skids and explained how to find out the speed of the car by the skid it made on the street.

Obviously, it could not be a forensics class without looking at the O.J. Simpson trial. Students spend a few days looking at DNA from blood and comparing it to other DNA samples. Other famous cases researched by students are the JFK assassination, the murder of JonBenet Ramsey and the murder of Lacey Peterson. Historical cases are also researched.

"Forensics prepares you for future employment in the field. It shows a little of each occupation," said Devon Morris, a senior who enjoys the class.

Students are eager to join the class for the coming year, and Bowen claims that it will be just as good.