As she cradles two replicas of human skulls, Katelin Babbitt ’26 talks to cadets in SUNY Potsdam’s Law Enforcement Training Institute about the skills necessary to solve crimes using forensic anthropology. She points out the location of the Nuchal Crest, Mastoid Process, and the Supraorbital Margin on each specimen, while leading a reality-based crime scene exercise in the College’s Bioarchaeology Lab.
“It kind of encompassed a small investigation. We call it forensic profiling. It involves getting estimated ancestry, stature, and sex, noting any trauma that could be recognizable to the bones. And then we take inventory of the bones to see if something is missing," Babbitt said.
An anthropology major with minors in forensic studies and museum studies, Babbitt led the hands-on event with the help of Maya Etkin, a fellow anthropology student at SUNY Potsdam. Showcasing the skills they learned in their forensic anthropology class with Dr. Nasser Malit, they moved around the lab answering one question after another from the police academy students.
“It was an amazing opportunity to work with the police academy. They are such a great group of people who love their program and love learning about the different aspects of solving a case. It was a very fulfilling experience to see others engaged in forensic anthropology and teach them some basics of how we estimate sex and ancestry. It was a good collaborative effort, and I think it emphasized the importance of lab work in helping to solve crimes.”
A brand-new addition to the police academy training this semester, the mock crime scene investigation stemmed from Babbitt's conversation with University Police (UP) Chief Shane Ashley. Babbitt, who also works as a dispatcher for UP, spoke with Ashley about the idea one day at work. Ashley then put her in touch with Sonny Duquette, the director of the Law Enforcement Training Institute, who was thrilled about the idea. She took the reins, created the curriculum based on her own undergraduate forensic anthropology work, and spoke with Dr. Malit about using the lab for the day.
“It was a tremendous, applied learning collaboration between the Department of Sociology & Criminal Justice and the Department of Anthropology,” said Duquette. “Our academy offers reality-based training, and this hands-on scenario is exactly what we strive for.”
Charlie Deprimo ’25, a history major in the police academy, was one of the cadets involved in the three-hour training exercise. “I really enjoyed looking at the details in the skulls, when Katelin was pointing them out,” he said. “My hope is to one day become a detective and gain experience and knowledge about how crime scenes operate, and how people identify bones, has been amazing.”
For Rosemary Batista ’25, a senior criminal justice major with a minor in forensic studies, working in the Bioarchaeology lab was completely in line with her career aspirations. “I loved every second of it. Police officers are the first responders. They see the crime scene, and then they call the evidence technicians—which I want to be in the future—or a forensic photographer,” she said.
The unique forensic anthropology exercise was just one of the many hands-on activities part of the College’s Law Enforcement Training Institute. During the intensive semester-long program, students learn law enforcement skills like defensive tactics, how to operate emergency vehicles, fingerprinting, use-of-force training, applying field sobriety tests, and many other topics required to become police officers.
One of just 14 schools in New York state authorized to teach pre-employment police training, the program requires students to complete 680 contact hours, with undergraduate students receiving a full 15 credits toward their degree. The police academy is offered every fall semester.
To learn more and to apply, visit:
www.potsdam.edu/academics/appliedlearning/law-enforcement-training-institute
Article and Photos by Jason Hunter