“CSI: WARSAW” – Crime Scene Investigation Training at the University of Warsaw
“CSI: WARSAW” – Crime Scene Investigation Training at the University of Warsaw

Summary/Abstract: The author presents the position of forensic and investigative sciences within the framework of legal education at Polish universities. The paper confronts the traditional scope of the highly theoretical criminalistics/forensics courses with the modern and innovative hands-on workshops designed and successfully employed at the Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Warsaw. The educational project nicknamed “CSI: Warsaw” was designed in order to mitigate the pop-culture driven and unrealistic expectations of the general public towards the potential and effectiveness of the investigative sciences (an approach known as the “CSI Effect”). The practical course of crime scene analysis, evidence collection and interpretation became and instantly popular and sought-after part of the University of Warsaw curriculum. The paper describes the outline and structure of the course, providing the description of the students’ selection process, the nature of the highly realistic, hands-on and real-time exercises and their assessment, as well as the practical effects for the course graduates when they enter the job market in the legal and law-enforcement professions.

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