LIHU‘E — The Kaua’i Police Department held its first Police Investigations and Forensic Science Camp at KPD headquarters last week, with 16 students completing the program.
Students from high schools and colleges attended the camp, representing Kapa‘a High, Kaua‘i High, Waimea High, Island School, Maryknoll High School, Hawai‘i Tech Academy, Arizona State University and the online GED (General Education Development) program.
“The 2022 Police Investigations and Forensic Science Camp was a huge success,” said KPD Investigative Services Bureau Assistant Chief Bryson Ponce.
”The students were engaged throughout the camp, asked great questions, and were eager to learn about the various tips and tools of the trade,” said Ponce. “Likewise, the camp instructors were very engaged with the students during their presentation and course of instruction while providing great mentorship and foresight to the students about various aspects of the job.”
Throughout the four-day course, students learned the ins and out of detective work and forensic science as well as other aspects of the job within KPD.
Students learned interview and interrogation techniques, crime-scene processing and evidence collection, report-taking and information-gathering, elements of crimes as defined by Hawai‘i Revised Statutes (state laws), de-escalation techniques, polygraph examination and emergency preparedness.
The first two days of the camp prepared the students for day three, in which students were tasked to investigate a full-scale felony crime scene, processing and recovering evidence to ultimately solve the crimes committed.
On day four, the students were introduced to the department’s drug-detection and scent-tracking canines and bomb technician and capabilities team, and then were awarded a certificate of completion ceremony held in the Kaua‘i Emergency Management Agency conference room.
“As a young 22-year-old joining the Kaua‘i Police Department over 24 years ago in 1998, this career in law enforcement has been extremely rewarding and humbling — serving and protecting the community I grew up in, reside in and raised my family in, (and) motivates me and our entire KPD ‘ohana even more to give back to our island youth so that the future of the Kaua‘i Police Department can be perpetuated with the next generation of future aspiring police employees,” said Ponce.
