Alec Samsel, ’24, did not expect to start his day by following a trail of bloody footprints into the marsh, but that’s exactly where the senior forensic photography student and his classmates found themselves for their first full mock crime scene of the semester.
Visiting Assistant Professor Kevin Free created an intricate set of clues for students to document a mock case involving a vehicle break-in and shooting. The budding photographers had just 30 minutes to search the area, lay out evidence markers, measure footprints, properly photograph the scene and try not to get too much mud on their duty uniform shoes.
“I learned to look at what was in front of me.”
Their task was made more difficult by the changing tide of the marsh and the footprints from the previous class, but they prevailed. “It really was just as if you’d walked onto a crime scene,” said Samsel. “You have to figure out what the story behind it is.
The car break-in at the marsh was just one of several crime scenes the forensic photography students had the opportunity to investigate over the course of the semester. Samsel, an intelligence and security studies major and fine arts minor who plans to pursue a career in federal law enforcement, found the experience uniquely rewarding for its hands-on experience with crime scenes. “It taught me how not to make assumptions and to look at what the evidence is telling you,” said Samsel. “If you get a narrative in your head, you can overlook everything else—I learned to look at what was in front of me.” Students also had the opportunity to work with emerging technologies in the field, such as drones and 3D interactive capture.
Samsel learned from class consultant and Citadel alumnus Lt. Todd Schenk, ’13, of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, whose first-hand experience and professional acumen leading the state’s Crime Scene Investigation Unit have made him a valuable mentor. “He told me what I need to do to get my foot in the door,” said Samsel, who now has a bright future well within his focus.