University of Western Ontario students who register for the Faculty of Information and Media Studies’ course, The Serial Killer in the Media & Popular Culture, will get their chance to crack a case when classes start this fall.
The unusual assignment of solving a murder with basic police investigative techniques and skills is part of Mike Arntfield’s class, a two-year-old course offered at the University of Western Ontario. Detective-Constable Arntfield is a full-time cop, a 12-year veteran on the city forces’ vice unit, and part-time professor in London.
The class has become extremely popular with students who want to try their hand at cracking decade-old cases from around North America.
Although the students have yet to crack a case, their work has drawn praise from some local police investigators.
“These students can bring enthusiasm, fresh eyes and imagination to these cases, most of which occurred even before they were born,” said Det.-Const. Arntfield.
Students are divided into “squads” of five or six, mirroring police case-management methods. They then sift through archival news clippings to analyze unsolved serial killings, using modern technology such as social networking tools to find people and Google Maps to plot crime scenes.
“It’s a matter of scrutinizing what has been done and identifying what else could be done, what’s missing and what could be done better,” Det.-Const. Arntfield said.
Det.-Const. Arntfield admits that for many students who have grown up watching forensic TV dramas like CSI and Bones, the appeal may be “the guilty pleasure” of examining serial killers.
“That’s fine. You can sign up for the gory details and macabre experience of it,” he said. “But the price of admission is that that natural interest is going to be retooled to serve the interest of justice.”
For more information: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/universitynews/uwo-meets-csi-as-students-investigate-cold-cases/article2146395/
