Bassano RCMP provide policing perspective to high school forensics class

Posted on 6 January 2022 by Prairie Post

Bassano RCMP Constable Logan Tataryn assisted grade 11 and 12 students at Bassano School in their High School Forensics course this fall.

In this initiative, Cst. Tataryn liaised with the Grasslands School Division as well as the RCMP Forensic Identification Section to develop and prepare presentations for the high school curriculum.

Constable Tataryn assisted with fingerprinting, blood/DNA gathering, as well as blood alcohol sciences and impaired driving.

The classes were taught by Mr. Steven Muir, and Constable Tataryn would then attend the classroom and demonstrate what they had learned.

For the fingerprinting segment, Constable Tataryn demonstrated to the students how fingerprints were obtained, how they are useful in solving crimes, as well as their purpose under the Identification of Criminals Act. 

On Dec. 3, 2021, students attended the Bassano RCMP Detachment where they conducted experiments using objects soaked in bovine blood such as a blood soaked tennis ball, and hit or threw the objects against the wall to create blood splatter. This exercise demonstrated how blood splatter worked with high velocity.

For the Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)/Impaired session, students were brought to the detachment and were shown the steps taken in processing impaired drivers under both the provincial sanctions and Criminal Code. Cst. Tataryn also discussed the different blood alcohol limits and their respective punishments.  For a practical demonstration, an off-duty RCMP officer provided breath samples after having 2oz of liquor to show students the difference between shallow lung air/deep lung air, and residual mouth alcohol.

“The focus of assisting with the school forensic course was to provide a bit more excitement and applied knowledge,” says Constable Tataryn. “The hope was to have the students more involved by doing some practical exercises, and show them different aspects of policing that also involve science, math.”

This education partnership with the Bassano School and Grasslands School Division will continue in their subsequent Forensics courses.