Reconstructing shooting scenes and studying the decomposition of bodies were among the lessons experienced by a Rutherford County Sheriff’s detective during a 10-week elite class at the National Forensic Academy.
Detective Ralph Mayercik, who has 16 years of experience, joined 23 other students from around all corners of the U.S. to study at the premier academy at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Murfreesboro Police Detective Capt. Nathan McDaniel also graduated from the class.
Students spent 400 hours in training with 170 hours of in-class work and 230 hours of field experience. Other topics covered included bloodstain pattern analysis, crime scene management, criminal investigative analysis, firearms and tool mark identification, footwear and tire impressions, forensic fire investigation, bombs, booby traps and threats at the scene, post-blast investigations, postmortem fingerprinting, shooting incident reconstruction, death investigations and forensic anthropology.
For Mayercik, gathering and processing evidence was a component of the class he will use at crime scenes.
“We in CID (Criminal Investigation Division) rely heavily on forensics,” Mayercik said, explaining he learned techniques of how to properly identify and gather forensic evidence. Learning what can be done from a forensic standpoint and being able to apply those techniques at a crime scene is invaluable." “Our full time CSI (Crime Scene Investigator), Lt Philip Martin, will now be able to utilize my new skill set at any scenes too large for him to work alone.”
Students spent some time at the Anthropological Research Facility where they studied decomposition of bodies and estimated times since death. Mayercik stated he was grateful to Dr. Lee Jantz for the time the class had at the Facility. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and one of the most fascinating training opportunities. "We learned the proper procedures for locating and excavating human remains by conducting an actual excavation on site,” "Mayercik said. “We also studied various forms of bone trauma.”
Students used the skills they learned in the classroom from top-notch instructors to reconstruct a shooting scene. They used the work of blood stain pattern analysis to determine what happened. They studied different types of trauma to try to determine the cause of death.
A couple of Texas Rangers taught computer sketching and mapping. Students took a crime scene and completed a scaled drawing with all the evidence detailed. They also learned how to preserve a crime scene through photographs. A jury could examine the drawing and photographs for a better understanding of the crime scene.
The Academy is limited to only two sessions of 24 students per year. Mayercik, who already teaches many of the departments yearly investigative in service trainings, plans to teach other officers about the knowledge he received while attending the National Forensic Academy. “I’m going to pass this training forward,” Mayercik said. "It does no good, for a book to be left on the shelf unshared."
Students were taught by “cutting edge” instructors who are leaders in their fields, providing a network of advisors who could provide expertise to cases.
For example, Rutherford County Sheriff’s Cold Case Detective Lt. Bill Sharp and Sgt. Dan Goodwin obtained evidence from a murder case in the early 1990s. Instructors helped the detectives with additional processing of the evidence through photography and fingerprinting, “I’m humbled I was actually chosen to go,” Mayercik said, thanking his family who supported him while he was away from home and Sheriff Robert Arnold, who gave him the opportunity, supervisors and his co-workers who added his cases to their case load while he was away.