Guelph-Humber Team Wins International CSI Contest
April 17, 2009 - News Release
A team of University of Guelph-Humber students has won the U.S. "CSI Challenge," helping propel the school's justice studies program into the international arena. It was the first time Guelph-Humber entered the event.
Bringing home the trophy to Canada shows Guelph-Humber has achieved an international level in crime scene investigation, said Dino Doria, head of the justice studies program and a 30-year veteran of the Toronto Police Service.
"I was very proud of the students," he said. "I think it’s a great program, and we can compete with anybody."
Doria accompanied the team of four students to the event, held at Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland last month. Now in its fourth year, the competition attracted 24 teams from university programs.
Fourth-year Guelph-Humber students Jeffery McLean and Maxwell Bourdeau and second-year students Savita Sharma and Brittany Medeiros earned almost 43 points out of a possible 45. The judges were all veterans in crime scene investigation from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
The crime scene they faced included a blood-covered shirt that lay on the rug, a pop can and coffee cups on a table, and a dresser with its drawers open, clothes hanging out as if someone had packed and left in a hurry.
“We went down there to win,” said McLean, who took pictures and helped gather evidence at the simulated crime scene. “We were very meticulous.”
Now in its seventh year, Guelph-Humber's justice studies program has some 400 students enrolled. About 140 have graduated over the past two years.
Doria said many grads work for regional police forces and for the Ontario Provincial Police, the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). Others are in law school, training for the Armed Forces or working for border services or private security companies
McLean will graduate this year and hopes to land a job with the Toronto Police Service, the RCMP or CSIS. So is he a fan of the CSI television series? “Not really. I find the image they project where they’re done in 60 minutes makes it look a lot easier than it is.”
For media questions, contact University of Guelph Communications and Public Affairs: Lori Bona Hunt, 519-824-4120, Ext. 53338, lhunt@uoguelph.ca; or Barry Gunn, Ext. 56982, bagunn@uoguelph.ca.
