Baltimore police and Loyola University host forensic science camp for high school students

BALTIMORE -- This week, Baltimore police and Loyola University Maryland are hosting a camp for high school students to learn all about forensic science from professionals at the department. 

Students from Baltimore city and surrounding areas are getting to explore different forensic disciplines from blood spatter to ballistics free of charge.

Guided by instructors from the Baltimore police department and Loyola University,16 high school students are learning how to dust for fingerprints on a can.

Participant, Evian Hall, said, "We really get to feel like we're in the lab taking out fingerprints looking at crime scenes."

Thursday was the fourth day of the new forensic science summer academy. Loyola and BPD are hosting the week-long camp for free.  

Teri Labbe, a forensic scientist from Baltimore's crime lab, said, "We wanted to give them an opportunity to have this experience without having that expense or not having the opportunity at all."

Participant, Giyah Al-Meteenoryster, said, "You don't get that many chances to do something like this."

Student participants are getting hands on experience with everything from crime scene processing and DNA typing to fingerprinting and ballistics.

"They're going to learn how to look at bullets that have been fired from a gun and cartridges and try to identify those, and then tomorrow we're finishing up with our blood spatter," said Labbe.

"Seeing the department and then seeing what we're doing, it helps us feel like we are part of the department itself," said Hall. 

It's an intriguing field and career path. But for some students, pursuing a career in forensics is more than just a chance to solve a mystery, it's a chance to help their own communities.

 "Once I find where I want to be in the forensic field, I would like to help the community because there's a lot going on here," said Al-Meteenoryster.

Hall said, "I want to reconnect families with answers."

Student, Sigal Edwards, said, "Then they'll be able to be at peace with that or at least know the real truth."