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scene to document evidence – a shot-
gun casing, litter and boot prints. At the
next scene, the teacher visits a campsite
where they observe what appears to be
the suspects’ vehicle and they collect
more evidence – a shell casing in the
vehicle, boot impressions to compare
from the first scene and they locate a
dead deer.”
At the third exhibit, officers walk
teachers through all the evidence and
how they process it.
“When teachers talk to kids about
why science is important and kids ask,
‘When am I ever going to use this?’
teachers can give an example how COs
use CER every day,” Gray said.
Since the inaugural 2023 wildlife
crime scene in Lansing, COs have
taken the show on the road: the
Kid’s Cave at the National Trappers
Convention in July 2023 in Escanaba,
and as a weeklong career techni-
cal education program for Brimley
Area Schools at Lake Superior State
University.
In March, a group of COs spent the
day at Portage Central High School,
where juniors and seniors enrolled in a
forensic science class participated in the
mock crime scene – this time featuring
a real deer that was struck by a car the
previous day.
“My students loved it,” said James
Carrow, science teacher at Portage
Central. “Not a lot of our students are
hunters or interact with non-domesti-
cated animals, especially dead ones.
At first, they were squeamish but after
a couple minutes they grew excited. It
was great to see how interested they
became and the questions they were
asking.”Students learned about and wore per-
sonal protective equipment to take tis-
sue, blood and hair samples and collect
swabs for DNA analysis.
They practiced bagging and labeling
evidence, collecting shotgun shells and
soil samples, taking tire impressions
and looking for footprints and other
items that might have been dropped by
a game-law violator.
“To have professional officers guide
us, using an actual deer, collecting real
samples, discussing the process behind
it, really helped make what we’re
learning in class real for the students,”
Carrow said.
The next day, when Carrow conduct-
ed a debriefing session with students,
he said several of them expressed new
interest working in a DNR-related field.
“This helped show different jobs that
are out there,” Carrow said. “We talk
about traditional city police officers andlabs. Not many students knew what a
CO did, they just assumed they hike in
the woods.”
The wildlife crime scenes are also
building important relationships
between law enforcement officers and
their communities.
“When most of what you hear about
law enforcement is negative, it makes it
difficult for people to walk away with a
positive police reaction,” Carrow said.
“Providing kids with the chance to see
the good and important work conserva-
tion officers do is always a positive;
our students came away with very posi-
tive feelings about the officers.”
Michigan conservation officers are
fully commissioned state peace officers
who provide natural resources protec-
tion, ensure recreational safety and pro-
tect citizens by providing general law
enforcement duties and lifesaving oper-
ations in the communities they serve.WILDLIFE
Continued from Page 43
The Battle Creek Recreation Department’s summer youth t-ball program
featured two age 5-6 year-old teams – the Diamondbacks (in maroon
uniform tops) versus the Marlins (in purple uniform tops) – playing an
early-evening game in the front part of B.C.’s Bailey Park last Tuesday.
(Shopper News photo by Will Kowalski)Youth t-ball squads in action at Bailey Park
WILL KOWALSKI
Sports Editor/Asst. Editor
Following are top results of the
local Ladies Interclub recreational
golf group/league event that took
place Wednesday, July 24 at The
Medalist Golf Club in Marshall.
Providing the following scores
and statistics was Ladies Interclub
communications director Regeana
Yeager.
Participating clubs at The Medalist
event were The Medalist (M), Bedford
Valley Golf Club (BV), Marywood
Golf Club (MW), Riverside Golf Club
& Banquet Center (RGC), Marshall
Country Club (MCC) and Duck Lake
Country Club (DLCC).
Note: The letters “scp” denotes a
scorecard playoff.- A Flight low gross: Krisan Watkins
(DLCC) 82, Jean Steinbacher (MW)
- Low net: Becky O’Dell (BV) 72,
Barbie Dunlap (MW) 73. Low putts:
Linda Morrison (MCC) 34 (scp), Jan
Keen (MCC) 34.
- B Flight low gross: Shari Babbitt
(DLCC) 92, Carolyn Palchak (MCC)
- Low net: Patti Schoenmaker
(M) 73, Joy Brown (MW) 74. Low
putts: Glenda Culp (MCC) 35, Linda
Hoover (MCC) 36.
- C Flight low gross: Jean Sommer
(RGC) 99, Stephanie Haas (DLCC)
- Low net: Jeanne Mathie (DLCC)
71, Connie O’Neill (M) 78. Low putts:
Lesley Bodary (BV) 33, Vicki Laupp
(M) 35.
- D Flight low gross: Stacey
Schueler (RGC) 117, Barb Heffner
(RGC) 121. Low net: Judy Mahmat
(MW) 78, Cece Hepler (MCC) 85.
Low putts: Vicki Knickerbocker
(MCC) 38, Linda Feld (RGC) 40.
Golfers excel at Ladies
Interclub event at The Medalist