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TEST YOUR EVIDENCE POTENTIAL I.Q.

(2 Equivalent Classroom Hours*)

Instructional Goals:

This program takes the view of the crime scene investigator in developing the priority of physical evidence. Intended for use in a wide range of police training settings, the program is viable for self-study, basic training, and advanced investigative courses.

Essentially, the evidence potential program revolves around the question: Does the evidence item present potential through either its class characteristics alone or class and individual characteristics? This leads to an inference about the relative value of physical evidence. Once learned, the student can easily transmit this means of assessment into practical field application.

The student's performance within the lesson is subject to immediate reinforcement and corrective feedback. The student is given an opportunity to retake test questions missed on the first try.

Subjects covered represent evidence items most frequently encountered at the crime scene. Areas considered in the lesson include: fingerprints, document examination, tool mark evidence, toxicology, glass, paint, soil and vegetation evidence, firearms identification, and arson evidence. Potential for case management utilization is covered and information about DNA testing is included.

Student Performance Objectives:

  1. Defines physical evidence and its potential value.

  2. Identifies the type of information forensic laboratory analysis may produce on selected items of physical evidence including blood and body fluids, hairs and fibers, dental and teeth mark evidence, toxicology, fingerprints, cannabis and controlled substances, document examination, firearms identification, tool mark evidence, arson, paint, glass, and soil and rock evidence.

Method of Instruction: Computer Based Education and Training using an Internet records system, and the most recent version of the microcomputer lesson, Test Your Evidence Potential I.Q., Twenty Third Edition. A study guide is provided for note taking and evaluation.

This program is designed for Microsoft Windows equipped personal computers (PCs). It is based on techniques found effective in training over 1,600 sworn police officers at the University of Illinois, Police Training Institute, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois USA.

*Equivalent Classroom Hours (ECH's) represent an estimate of the time it would take to study this lesson and properly fill out the student note taking guide, or to teach these materials in the traditional classroom setting. Actual microcomputer time varies among students.

PACKAGING AND TRANSMITTAL OF PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

(4 Equivalent Classroom Hours*)

The program presents 50 situations in each of 2 lessons for a total of 100. These situations are ones encountered by forensic science laboratories receiving physical evidence articles submitted for analysis. The issues involved are solely related to packaging and/or transmittal of evidence to the forensic science laboratory.

In the packaging evidence programs (Parts 1 and 2) the user is told how evidence from a particular situation was received by the forensic science laboratory. In each of the 100 situational descriptions the program user is asked to either agree or disagree with the procedure(s) utilized. To ensure best training, the program uses tailored feedback, required responses, and repetition.

As a result of the program logic and the program's forthright informational configuration, this program may be used for either reinforcement of previous learning experiences or in a discovery mode of initial content instruction.

Specific content areas reflect the broad range of physical evidence likely to be encountered in almost any police operational assignment. The subject areas include: firearms, chain of custody, drug evidence, letters of transmittal, latent fingerprint evidence, body fluids, arson evidence, hairs and fibers, impression evidence, and even soil samples. Information about DNA testing is included.

Student Performance Objectives:

  1. Identifies proper techniques for collection of various forms of physical evidence.

  2. Identifies proper methods of marking and tagging evidence.

  3. Identifies proper procedures for packaging and preservation of various forms of physical evidence found at the crime scene.

  4. Identifies proper procedures for establishing chain of custody.

Method of Instruction: Computer Based Education and Training using an Internet records system, and the most recent versions of the microcomputer lessons, Packaging and Transmittal of Physical Evidence to the Forensic Science Laboratory (Parts 1 and 2), Twenty Third Editions. Study guides are provided for note taking and evaluation.

This program is designed for Microsoft Windows equipped personal computers (PCs). It is based on techniques found effective in training over 2,800 sworn police officers at the University of Illinois, Police Training Institute, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois USA.

*Equivalent Classroom Hours (ECH's) represent an estimate of the time it would take to study these lessons and properly fill out the student note taking guide, or to teach these materials in the traditional classroom setting. Actual microcomputer time varies among students.

THE ARSON CRIME SCENE SEARCH

(6 Equivalent Classroom Hours*)

The motives for arson are quite different. The present arson crime scene search lesson is based on the crime concealment motive to commit arson. This motive involves criminals who set fires to obliterate or destroy the evidence of murders, burglaries, larcenies, etc. Fire may destroy any evidence that a crime was committed, destroy the evidence connecting the perpetrator to the crime, or, in the case of murder, make it impossible to identify the victim. People set fires to destroy records that contain certain evidence of embezzlement, forgery, or fraud. Other motives include profit, revenge, jealousy, intimidation, vandalism, excitement, pyromania, etc.

An investigator alone may not be able to affect the level of investigation implied by the complexity of the motive to commit arson to conceal crime. Police investigative skills, techniques, and procedures can fill the gap. The methods of investigation discussed in this lesson were drawn from those used successfully by the police in criminal investigation. There is no question that selected police investigative methods can be used (with some modification) in suspected arson investigations involving crime concealment and possibly other motives to commit arson.

Thus, the present program may be used equally well by police officers, arson investigators, fire service investigators, insurance investigators, security officers and other human service workers who have a role in arson investigation. This program deals with certain basic considerations, guidelines, and procedures that may help the investigator to insure thoroughness of the search and to comply with both legal and scientific requirements that always bear on the use of physical evidence.

It is interesting to note that the program also may be used as an evidence manual for crime scene investigations involving not only arson but also crimes against persons and property in general. The procedures are the same.

Student Performance Objectives:

  1. Defines the crime scene search.

  2. Identifies search procedures involving fires set to conceal crimes.

  3. Distinguishes between effective and ineffective search methods.

Method of Instruction: Computer Based Education and Training using the most recent version of the microcomputer lesson, The Arson Crime Scene Search, Eighteenth Edition. A study guide is provided for note taking and evaluation.

This program is designed for Microsoft Windows equipped personal computers (PCs). It is based on techniques found effective in training numerous sworn police officers at the University of Illinois, Police Training Institute, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois USA.

*Equivalent Classroom Hours (ECH's) represent an estimate of the time it would take to study this lesson and properly fill out the student note taking guide, or to teach these materials in the traditional classroom setting. Actual microcomputer time varies among students.

PASSENGER VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION

(2 Equivalent Classroom Hours*)

Instructional Goals:

The Passenger Vehicle Identification Manual, published annually by the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), is a major resource used in the investigation of motor vehicle theft by police personnel and insurance investigators. Competent use of this NICB manual and computerized versions of this manual, such as VIN edit-type systems, are necessary tools of the job.

The program is a test of information provided in the NICB manual. It provides guided practice and tests in decoding vehicle identification numbers (VINs). Users decode VINs by answering questions while using a copy of the NICB manual.

The computer-assisted program provides reinforcement when the user's response is adequate and gives corrective feedback when the user makes an error. The user is given an opportunity to retake test questions missed on the first try. A special DATA key refers users to numbered pages in the NICB manual containing answers. The program is limited to use of VINs and is intended for use within a regular program of on-the-job training, formal technical training, and follow-up evaluation in the field.

Student Performance Objectives:

  1. Defines the vehicle identification number (VIN).

  2. Demonstrates decoding VINs of American and foreign made passenger vehicles.

Method of Instruction: Computer Based Education and Training using the most recent version of the microcomputer lesson, Passenger Vehicle Identification, Tenth Edition. An on-line study guide is provided for note taking and evaluation.

This program is designed for Microsoft Windows equipped personal computers (PCs). It is based on techniques found effective in training over 1,400 sworn police officers at the University of Illinois, Police Training Institute, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois USA.

*Equivalent Classroom Hours (ECH's) represent an estimate of the time it would take to teach these materials in the traditional classroom setting. Actual microcomputer time varies among students.

TRAFFIC ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION

STABILIZING THE ACCIDENT SCENE

(6 Equivalent Classroom Hours*)

Instructional Goals:

A great deal is now known about the investigation of traffic accidents. This program covers the skills needed for stabilizing the accident scene - including often overlooked procedures dealing with departmental policy and legal liability.

Nine objectives cover initial actions at the scene appropriate to the severity and type of accident, i.e.: responding to the scene quickly and safely; caring for the injured and protecting their personal property; taking steps to protect the scene and prevent secondary accidents; evaluating the assistance requirements necessary at the scene; identifying vehicle ownership; and locating, interviewing, and recording statements of drivers, passengers, and principal witnesses.

A discussion of each objective presented in this program is followed by a short test with immediate feedback. To successfully complete the program, the student must pass a mini-test for each of the nine objectives, a total of 54 questions. Mastery is awarded when the student gets at least 80 percent or 4 out of 5 questions correct on the first try. Opportunities to review discussions and retake test questions missed on the first try are provided.

The program meets the needs of those who must deal with on-scene traffic crash investigation, particularly law enforcement officers, insurance adjusters and investigators, private investigators, lawyers, judges, legal investigators, and instructors and students involved in preservice or advanced in-service traffic accident investigation training programs. It is intended for use within a regular program of on-the-job training, formal technical training, and follow-up evaluation in the field.

Student Performance Objectives:

  1. Identifies the need to respond to the accident scene quickly and safely.

  2. Identifies the need to care for the injured and check the surrounding area for persons who may have been injured in the traffic accident.

  3. Identifies proper procedures to protect and inventory the personal property of those seriously injured at the accident scene.

  4. Identifies procedures to protect the traffic accident scene and prevent secondary accidents.

  5. Identifies factors determining need-for-assistance at the motor vehicle accident scene.

  6. Identifies proper procedures for interviewing persons involved in traffic accidents.

  7. Identifies the procedures for locating witnesses to traffic accidents.

  8. Identifies proper procedures for recording statements of drivers and principal witnesses in traffic accident situations.

  9. Identifies procedures for confirming identity of the owner of any vehicle involved in the accident.

Method of Instruction: Computer Based Education and Training using an Internet records system, and the most recent version of the microcomputer lesson, Traffic Accident Investigation: Stabilizing the Accident Scene, Twenty Second Edition. A study guide is provided for note taking and evaluation.

This program is designed for Microsoft Windows equipped personal computers (PCs). It is based on techniques found effective in training over 3,000 sworn police officers at the University of Illinois, Police Training Institute, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois USA.

*Equivalent Classroom Hours (ECH's) represent an estimate of the time it would take to study this lesson and properly fill out the student note taking guide, or to teach these materials in the traditional classroom setting. Actual microcomputer time varies among students.

PRETEST AND POSTTEST

(2 Equivalent Classroom Hours*)

Instructional Goals:

The purpose of the pretest and posttest is to verify that the students have the prerequisites for instructional modules, and when completed, that they have demonstrated the required level of learning. This learning certification module uses criterion referenced, automated question banks to provide a basis for "state of the audience" testing and measurement to manage the instruction by computer.

Computer managed instruction (CMI) has the capability to keep and maintain explicit individual records of the performance of each student. This becomes immediate feedback to the instructor on the progress of each student and the extent of student achievement. These results summarize the collected data and allow a statistical treatment of them. Through this means, record keeping capabilities are truly remarkable and can be of important assistance to individual students, instructors, field training officers, and the training program itself.

Student Performance Objectives:

Student Performance Objectives:

  1. Verify prerequisites for the instructional modules.

  2. Demonstrate the required level of learning of the instructional-modular materials.

Method of Instruction: Computer Based Education and Training using the most recent version of the microcomputer lesson, Pretest and Posttest, First Edition.

This program is designed for Microsoft Windows equipped personal computers (PCs). It is based on techniques found effective in training numerous police officers at the University of Illinois, Police Training Institute, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois USA.

*Equivalent Classroom Hours (ECH's) represent an estimate of at least the time it would take to deliver these materials in the traditional classroom setting. Actual microcomputer time varies among students.

EMOTIONAL STABILITY

(10 Equivalent Classroom Hours*)

Instructional Goals:

The purpose of this unit is to provide the student officer with a practical, working understanding of the components of emotional stability as it applies to everyday life and to the stressful situations that are encountered in the normal work of a police officer. The instruction will provide the student with the basic skills necessary to identify potential emotional instability in them and in others, while making clear the imprecise and varying nature of all emotions and behavior. The student will learn about emotional and behavioral traits found in effective police officers and will identify the role played in shaping their own expectations of appropriate behavior by the expectations of coworkers, supervisors, and written organizational policies and procedures.

Student Performance Objectives:

  1. States a practical definition of emotional stability and conditions that make emotional stability difficult to maintain.

  2. Identifies the special needs for emotional stability in officers in extremely stressful situations such as mob actions.

  3. Recognizes selected patterns of behavior that suggest emotional instability and identifies the limitations in drawing conclusions about judgments of emotional instability in others.

  4. Demonstrates a realistic understanding of the potential range of emotions and expressive behaviors in varying situations.

  5. Describes the range of expressive behavior that would be seen as appropriate in normal and high-stress situations found in his/her own organization and relate these expectations to the expectations of superiors, the expectations of fellow officers, and the written policies and procedures of his/her organization.

  6. Distinguishes between physical and mental components of emotion.

  7. Distinguishes between expectations, emotions, and behaviors.

  8. Distinguishes between the expectations of behavior in response to fear and anger in civilians and in police officers.

Method of Instruction: Computer Based Education and Training using an Internet records system, and the most recent version of the microcomputer lesson, Emotional Stability for Police Officers, Fourteenth Edition. A study guide is provided for note taking and evaluation.

This program is designed for Microsoft Windows equipped personal computers (PCs). It is based on techniques found effective in training thousands of police officers at the University of Illinois, Police Training Institute, Champaign-Urbana, USA.

*Equivalent Classroom Hours (ECH's) represent an estimate of the time it would take to study this lesson and properly fill out the student note taking guide, or to teach these materials in the traditional classroom setting. Actual microcomputer time varies among students.

VARIANT BEHAVIOR

(12 Equivalent Classroom Hours*)

Instructional Goals:

Working police officers will encounter persons demonstrating forms of variant behavior. Officers in patrol assignments mostly observe these behaviors. Persons exhibiting variant behavior make other people uncomfortable and sometimes fearful. Hence, members of the public become upset and the first line of defense is often the police.

The program can be divided into five parts. The object of Part I is to identify proper procedures to conduct the investigation of a reported mentally ill person. Discussion of this objective involves the characteristics of the concept of variance, types of variant behavior, observing behavior, and taking into custody.

Part II examines the variant behavior associated with disturbed persons. Conditions associated with the types of abnormal behaviors that the police are likely to encounter are discussed. Part III is a discussion of a number of conditions which give rise to severe disturbances. Part IV is about suicide, which may affect not only family and friends, but also neighborhoods, and whole communities.

Part V is an examination with stated objectives, test questions, required responses, immediate feedback, self initiated review, etc. The user must successfully answer a total of 55 questions covering 5 objectives.

Student Performance Objectives:

  1. Identifies the additional burden society places upon police officers and others that deal with disturbed persons.

  2. Identifies the factors affecting police action decisions when dealing with disturbed persons.

  3. Identifies aspects of social tolerance of behavior.

  4. Differentiates between neurotic and psychotic forms of variance.

  5. Applies the procedures for direct officer intervention in situations of disturbed persons.

Method of Instruction: Computer Based Education and Training using an Internet records system, and the most recent version of the microcomputer lesson, Variant Behavior, Twenty First Edition. A study guide is provided for note taking and evaluation.

This program is designed for Microsoft Windows equipped personal computers (PCs). It is based on techniques found effective in training 1,100 sworn police officers at the University of Illinois, Police Training Institute, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois USA.

*Equivalent Classroom Hours (ECH's) represent an estimate of the time it would take to study this lesson and properly fill out the student note taking guide, or to teach these materials in the traditional classroom setting. Actual microcomputer time varies among students.

STRESS TEST

(2 Equivalent Classroom Hours*)

Instructional Goals:

Stress and Wellness, written and published by Professor J.W. Robinson, Jr., is the book used by the author in his well-known stress management workshops. His major clients total over 100 agencies, including financial institutions, associations in the banking industry, a farm federation, over 30 land grant universities, a major pharmaceutical company, a school of nursing at the university level, a state university medical authority, and an insurance company. Over 20,000 people have completed his stress management and Wellness workshops.

The program is a 50-item computer managed test of information provided mainly in the author's book Stress and Wellness, but adapted by the authors for criminal justice personnel in policing, corrections, private security and other human services. Thus, this computer-managed test can be used with or without the author's book.

Developed for use without the book, the program provides guided practice and tests. The computer-managed test provides reinforcement when the user's response is adequate and gives corrective feedback when the user makes an error. The user is given an opportunity to retake test questions missed on the first try.

Student Performance Objectives:

  1. Identifies stress in terms of how it affects people physically, emotionally, and behaviorally.

  2. Identifies behavioral reactions to stress in terms of aggression, withdrawal, and adaptation.

Method of Instruction: Computer Based Education and Training using the most recent version of the microcomputer lesson, Stress Test, Twenty First Edition. A study guide is provided for note taking and evaluation.

This program is designed for Microsoft Windows equipped personal computers (PCs). It is based on techniques found effective in training numerous sworn police officers at the University of Illinois, Police Training Institute, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois USA.

*Equivalent Classroom Hours (ECH's) represent an estimate of the time it would take to study this lesson and properly fill out the student note taking guide, or to teach these materials in the traditional classroom setting. Actual microcomputer time varies among students.

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Revised September 24, 2008