REALITY SHOW: CITIZENS POLICE ACADEMY LETS PUBLIC SEE HOW COPS WORK

ALTON - Blood splatters, plaster tire impressions, fingerprint lifts,
a marijuana leaf and pipes with which to smoke illegal drugs all were
real at last week's Citizens Police Academy.

Detectives from the Alton Police Department also were real - unlike
slick actors who dress up, snatch that key piece of evidence and solve
the murder case in less than an hour.

In reality, police explained it can take hours or days to collect
evidence, and sometimes months to obtain results from a state crime
lab.

It seemed straight off of television, but it "really"
wasn't.

"This job can be dirty," said evidence officer Pfc. Michael Metzler.
"That's why I don't wear $1,000 suits like they do on TV."

Capt. Scott Waldrup and Pfc. James Hunter also said a television error
is when investigators pick up a beer bottle or soda can on which there
might be fingerprints and drop it into a plastic bag. Plastic holds in
moisture, so a print would get smeared.

"Paper bags breathe; they won't destroy the prints," Hunter said. "TV
uses plastic bags. We would never use plastic; they will destroy the
prints. And the lab doesn't hand you the 'bad guy' like on
television."

The same holds true for blood or cannabis plants, said detective
William Brantley. If those substances are placed in a plastic bag,
they will mildew and decompose.

Throughout the evening, both police and many of the 80 attendees at
the academy's second session compared what detectives demonstrated -
and patiently explained - with what they see on crime scene
investigation shows.

"Seventy-five percent of the tools we use, you can put your hands on
(that night)," said Lt. David Hayes, chief of detectives.

"I watch all the cop shows, 'CSI' and 'Numbers.' I love 'whodunits,'"
said Alix Andrews, 49, of Alton. "This interaction is very
interesting. The officers are doing a real good job of explaining things."

Andrews said she was not disappointed that real-life investigations
aren't the same as those on television. Police Explorer Crystal
Stiritz, 15, of Alton, said the event makes her even more interested
in pursuing forensics as a career.

Police Chief Chris Sullivan said such shows are informative for the
public, but the event "is to inform them better." He was working at a
microscope station where people examined hairs.

Attendee Floy Shaw, 64, of Alton said she was pleased with her
experience at the academy.

"I've been here all my life and never interacted one-on-one with them
or see what they do," Shaw said. "People are so quick to criticize
police. They don't know the time (police) put into this. It was very
interesting. This was different - to see so many police here and to
see what they are doing and have them explain it. I never knew about
fingerprinting. I see it on TV, but it is not the same."

The session, in the gymnasium of East Elementary School, 1035
Washington Ave., featured a trail of tables and one dark room where
Alton detectives and other police officers showed how they collect and
process evidence.

At one table, drug unit detectives showed how they conduct a Valtox
field test for the presence of drugs. They also had a three-part
display showing photos of various illegal drugs, from amphetamines to
heroin and rock and powder cocaine.

There also was a small, green, laminated cannabis leaf that attracted
the attention of an older couple.

"That's a marijuana leaf! I have never seen one before," the woman
commented.

Sgt. Gary Cranmer and Pfc. Rory Rathgeb, who is on loan to the FBI's
Safe Streets Task Force, also showed a colorful collection of glass
"bongs" and smaller pipes used to smoke cannabis or hashish. There
also were some small, clear tubes containing fake roses used for
smoking crack cocaine.

Cranmer told the group at that station that drugs remain a problem in
Alton, and he is interested in arresting the low-to mid-level
dealers, because those are the ones lowering quality of life in the
city.

"I am working with 45 informants," he said. "Every day I come to work,
I make a drug 'buy.'"

He said methamphetamine manufacturing is declining in the region,
because dealers are buying the drug imported from Mexican "cookers."

At the next table, Waldrup and Hunter showed how detectives drop Super
Glue onto an accelerant in a small metal dish that they then place
into a plastic bin with objects that may have fingerprints. The
chemical reaction sets off a glue fog that coats and preserves the
prints for "dusting" later.

The dusting station was on the gym stage.

Detective Sgt. Jake Simmons and his crew showed curious visitors how
to dust for prints, using a fluffy nylon brush or magnetic applicator.
People would apply either a black graphite or magnetic
filament-volcanic ash dust on a CD case to reveal fingerprints, apply
clear tape, pull it up and place it on white cardboard to reveal the
prints.

Brantley and Lt. Mike McNamara told how detectives use measuring tools
and trigonometry to determine the angle at which someone was struck.
They also demonstrated how to swab suspected wet or dried blood and
how to determine whether a substance actually is blood - but not
necessarily from a human.

Brantley applied rubbing alcohol, then phenolphthalein and hydrogen
peroxide on the cotton swab with the suspected blood. If it is blood,
the swab turns pink.

"I've heard of that; I watch CSI," Andrews said.

In a dark room, officer Dustin Christner showed how orange fluorescent
powder brings out the location of fingerprints, bodily fluids and fire
accelerants when he turns on a blue light, enhanced by orange goggles.
He also used Luminol to detect blood.

Session 1 covered information about the department's operations and
services, climaxed by dramatic drills by two of the department's
energetic canines, Ezop and Bach.

The third and final session Monday, which is free and still open to
the public, will cover police defensive tactics, use of force,
handcuffing, non-lethal weapons such as pepper spray and pepper balls,
and two people planning to get Tasered. It will run from 6 to 9 p.m.