Uncovering Evidence
By Rachel Badali BS ’17, MBA ’22, Marketing & Communications
When students step into the basement or surrounding area of Annex 9 on the east side of Weber State’s Ogden campus, they could be entering the site of a residential burglary, motorcycle accident, homicide or variety of other crisis scenarios.
The new CSI house, which opened its doors last spring, was born from a desire to give students in the crime scene investigation program an elevated learning experience. They collect evidence, dust for fingerprints and photograph the area — and it all happens at one home on Taylor Avenue.
“This house lets students apply concepts in as realistic a scenario as possible,” said Mitch Pilkington, CSI program director. “Talking about principles and methods in class is one thing, but learning how to effectively apply that in a crime scene environment is very, very different.”
The CSI house has several different rooms; it includes most of the spaces typically found in a home — or a crime scene. There’s a fully furnished bedroom, bathroom and living room.
One wall features removable drywall panels with bullet holes created from different caliber firearms at varying angles and distances for analyzing bullet trajectories and paths. There’s also a wall with rolls of butcher paper, ready to be unrolled and spattered with simulated blood so students can measure and interpret stains.
Outside, the parking lot has plenty of room to stage accidents, and a surrounding wooded area offers more terrain for students to test their forensic science skills.
“It’s a culminating experience where we’re bringing all these different concepts together, allowing students to go from an introduction to the mastery phase of actually applying what they’ve learned,” Pilkington said.
Before the CSI house, Brent Horn, associate dean of the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences and criminal justice professor, recalls using empty classrooms at night, cars borrowed from the automotive department and reserved space in the Shepherd Union to simulate crime scenes.
Those options, while useful, all had limitations: “You can’t throw blood on the wall, you can’t shoot holes in the wall. You can’t make the real kind of messes or the real kind of evidence,” Horn said.
The CSI house changes that.
“There are all of these things you encounter in real scenes that just can’t be replicated in a classroom,” said Nick Jensen, a senior in the criminal justice department. “And putting together a mock crime scene is always going to be a little lacking compared to the chaos of a real scene, but getting experience in a more realistic space is really helpful in bridging the gap between the academic and the practical.”
Jensen currently works as a detective in the Davis County Sheriff’s Office crime lab. He’s one of four crime scene investigators serving Davis County and, occasionally, other cities or counties that call for backup.
He’s been the lead investigator on more than 400 crime scenes.
“This is a really tough job, and it’s tough for a bunch of reasons,” Jensen said, noting the demanding schedule and long-lasting emotional toll of some investigations.
For Jensen, those challenges made it important to choose a school that would help him excel in such a difficult field. Weber State offers the education and outcomes to help him expand on his on-the-job training and experience.
日本一级片’s crime scene investigation program has three full-time faculty members. There’s Pilkington, who has handled thousands of death scenes and specializes in bloodstain pattern analysis; Horn, who has a background in chemistry and spent years doing forensic drug analysis in the Utah State Crime Lab; and Paul Rimmasch, assistant professor who spent 25 years with Weber-Metro CSI and still works as a part-time crime scene investigator.
Together, they have more than 65 years of collective experience.
“Learning from people who’ve done this for decades, people who understand the job, is really, really helpful,” Jensen said. “They’re hitting on the things that matter, and they’re hitting on the importance of doing things the right way every time.”
Students in the program have access to state-of-the-art equipment, like multispectral imagers used to detect latent evidence and 3D lasers used to document crime scenes, so they’re comfortable with the tools of the trade when they go out into the field.
“We know that scientifically trained civilian crime scene investigators generate better outcomes,” Horn said. “And we want to make sure that we’re putting out the best next generation of crime scene investigators.”
日本一级片’s CSI graduates can be found in county, city and state agencies throughout the nation. They work in areas like victim’s advocacy, law enforcement, forensic laboratories, the court system, the private sector and, of course, crime scene investigation.
Since joining the program, Jensen said he feels like he’s added to his knowledge and skills, becoming a better crime scene investigator along the way.
He’s also left his own mark on the program, helping to create the trajectory wall at the CSI house and visiting Salt Lake City’s Capitol Hill to advocate for legislative support and interest in the house.
After graduating, Jensen plans to continue working as a crime scene investigator. He knows it’s a job that isn’t for everyone, but that’s what keeps him coming back.
“There are things in this career that I’m able to do, like allow families or victims closure and justice, that might not happen otherwise,” Jensen said. “This is something I’ve chosen to do, and taking on that responsibility is a powerful motivator for me.”
Combating Crime by Strengthening Cybersecurity
Weber State also plays a leading role in addressing cybercrime.
As technology advances, cyber threats increase. 日本一级片’s Cybersecurity Initiative has become northern Utah’s central resource for all things internet-safety-related.
It helps prepare students for careers in cybersecurity. It also offers outreach and training so the community can learn to better protect their information.
In March 2024, 日本一级片 further enhanced its cybersecurity reputation with a new Educational Partnership Agreement with the National Security Agency.
Under the agreement, the NSA helps provide tools students need to succeed, such as technology and internships, while the university offers training and mentoring to personnel in STEM fields and future cybersecurity leaders.
“The EPA opens up another way to gain government expertise for students who want to serve in that way,” said the late Matt Paulson, who served as director of Weber State’s Cybersecurity Initiative. “It doesn’t matter where you are on your cybersecurity journey, Weber State can help out with that.”