Video Transcript

Gene Lanzillo, FBI Evidence Response Team Unit: We want them to suspend disbelief when they're here. We don't want them to think about "Well, this is training so we don't have to do it the right way." It is training, so we want them to do it the right way. We've got multiple versions of the course. But they all lead toward this final practical exercise.

So we layer all the tasks they've been taught. We layer the crime scene photography. We layer the crime scene sketching. We layer the crime scene documentation. We layer all the methods they've learned about how to process a crime scene. The different roles each team has and we wrap that in the cocoon of our process–our 12-step process.

That is what we use to define our operations on the field.  And we ask them to process it as they've learned through the course.

And so we present the students with that scenario. We pick a team leader–but then we let them pick all their other roles. And we say, "Go forth and do great things."

That's some hyperbole but part of it is, as they crawl and they walk, and they run, we step back further and further.

This is the practical training area. And as you can see it is like a Hollywood stage-set. On my right and my left we've got six rowhomes, fully functional, each independent and each differently designed that serve as stages for the various crime scenes–not just for this course but a lot of the courses that we teach. And they are designed to replicate as best we can real buildings, real houses; so the lights work, the plumbing works, the kitchen is hooked up. It's got complete furniture.

But we've got some things in there that help us train. We have various props and design, I don't want to give too much away in case someone comes. But we've got various designs in here that let us facilitate different kinds of scenarios.

So we try to create an environment where they forget they are in training. So you can hear, we've got the traffic noises, we've got realistic houses, You come out on the street and we've got sidewalks and street signs and trashcans. And we have various lighting effects that we can do. All designed so that they get in here and forget they're in training and they'll do it like they would in the real world. So the muscle memory they learn here translates to how they act on an actual crime scene