Criminal Investigations
by Mark Hulbert
February 15, 2006
Grundy County Sheriff's Detective Mark Smyk lectured to the advanced Criminal Justice class about conducting criminal investigations. Detective Smyk has been with the Sheriff's department since 1980 and has been an investigator since 1987. He discussed crime scene recognition, evidence collection, evidence preservation, and chain of evidence along with different kinds of evidence such as DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and fingerprints. He also discussed the benefits of using polygraph examiners. Last, Detective Smyk advised students on the importance of good report writing and how good report writing is the backbone to good testimony.
