Front row (from left) Linsey Kohn and Jessica Johnson; second row, Noah Teske, Marriah Stonewall, Caiden Collins, Alivea Soukhavong, and Jocee Mason. PHOTO BY MALAINA GERKE/THE SCOOP

The History of Crime class attended a tour on March 14 of the Iowa Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigation Laboratory in Ankeny.

The class left early that morning to embark on a scientific journey through crime investigation at the only lab in the whole state.

The tour led the group through different divisions that specialize in certain aspects of an investigation.

These aspects include arson and explosives, trace evidence, breath alcohol, toxicology, drug chemistry, DNA,fingerprint and impression identification, evidence, questioned document examination, firearms and tool mark examination, and photography.

Each division has its job and was presented to the tour group. The most notable sections were fingerprints and impression identification, firearms, drug chemistry, and questioned document examination.

In the fingerprint room, large machines are used to bring out the unique identification, and different lighting is used to see it in plain sight.

The questioned document room was filled with skewed documents being pieced together to decode a message being sent.

The firearms room had a testing range and one of the world’s largest government-controlled gun collections.

The tour guide showed the class the behind-the-scenes of most criminal investigations and also described how one obtains a job in the field.

The History of Crime class’s favorite room was the firearms room, and they enjoyed learning new things about the interesting topics.

The tour was a terrific opportunity to broaden the minds of the class and hopefully spark new interests.