ROCKINGHAM — Detectives Ronald Brigman and Shawn Paxton spent Wednesday afternoon answering questions instead of asking them.
Their inquisitors: more than 50 kids enrolled in this year’s Junior Police Academy sponsored by the Rockingham Police Department.
Some had been through the annual weekly camp before and some were new to it.
Many of the kids said they were there because they wanted to be in law enforcement or go into the military. One girl said she was there because her mother made her come. Brigman replied that he admired her honesty.
Several have family members in local law enforcement, including 15-year-old Tommy McDole, whose father Paul McDole is a K-9 handler with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office. He said he wants to be an Army Ranger, then become a state trooper with the N.C. Highway Patrol.
Following introductions, the class was shown a short video on how a crime scene is processed, including taking video, photographs and collecting evidence. After the video, Brigman explained how he processes a scene, which was different from what was shown.
“I take pride in what I do,” he said. “Whenever it goes to court, my name’s on it.”
Brigman told the kids that he tries to do the best job he can, which is something they should also try to do every day.
One of the most important aspects of collecting evidence, Paxton said, is to try to make sure it links to the right suspect so an innocent person doesn’t get charged.
Although investigators have to be meticulous during evidence collection, weather and other factors can play a role in how fast a scene is processed, he added.
When Brigman was asked what investigators do if it’s raining at a scene that may have biological evidence, like blood, the detective replied, “The best we can.”
The detectives quizzed the class on what type of bag was best to place evidence into — paper or plastic?
The correct answer, as detailed in the video, was paper, because condensation can form inside plastic bags and contribute to the degradation of evidence.
Unlike on the “C.S.I” television shows, local police don’t analyze evidence — it’s sent to the state crime lab, which services all police and sheriff’s offices in North Carolina’s 100 counties.
Paxton said it could take years for results to come back, noting he recently received a call that the lab was about to start analyzing evidence from a case in 2013.
McDole and 13-year-old J’niya Covington were selected as volunteers to make molds of hand and footprints.
First, they made impressions into a block of foam, then Brigman mixed up dental mold to pour into the impressions.
Earlier in the day, they had visited Richmond County Emergency Communications, which McDole compared to to spy movie where people are watching a screen telling someone else where to go.
“That was really cool,” he said.
The academy concludes today with a trip to the sheriff’s office, N.C. Highway Patrol and a visit by the department’s chaplain. Weather-permitting, there will be a cookout and swimming at Browder Park.
Reach William R. Toler at 910-817-2675 and follow him on Twitter @William_r_toler.
