Independent Blog #3: Blog #9 Reflection

Looking back on my original working EQ; What is the most important skill needed when investigating criminals? as well as the three answers I had in mind for it, I can see why I had to change it. My question only asked how to solve a criminal investigation, but that isn't necessarily something that is useful. Actually gaining a guilty verdict in an investigation is a useful outcome of evidence gathering.

Independent Blog #2: Mentor Change

When I began my mentorship at the West Covina courthouse in February, I worked with deputy DA-in-charge Peter Bliss. He was actually a very helpful mentor who planned out everything I would do each time I went. While I was mentoring under him, he was promoted to work at the LA DA office and was replaced by Javier Perez.

Independent Blog #1: Problem Statement Pentagon

1. Positive Statement

My initial problem statement was regarding the evidence contamination that can occur during an investigation. It is a very useful topic to explore my second answer.

2. EQ Connections


My second answer is Forensic Evidence and by exploring the possibility for forensic contamination, I wanted to better understand my second answer.

3. What Worked

 This plan had a good base since it would connect back to my EQ and my second answer very well.

4. What Didn't Work

I ended up having to change my problem statement since this became too difficult to gather information about. Police stations were simply unwilling to explain how many cases they lost due to error.

5. Finding Value

The value I found was that, in addition to choosing a problem statement that connects to the EQ, you also have to pick one that will be doable as a science experiment.

Blog #26: Senior Project Reflection

(1) Positive Statement (What are you most proud of in your 2-Hour Presentation and/or your senior project? Why?)

I am very proud of my activities. I structured my 2 hour presentation around the presentation of my 3 answers and a single, large activity at the end. During that large activity, each group understood the directions and the activities that I had prepared and I was mostly able to relax since the class acted self-sufficiently. All of the activities tied into the same "murder case" and the evidence was meant to point towards the guilty suspect. Several groups were able to perform most of the labs correctly and I had one group that completed all the labs correctly and came to the right conclusion.  

(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your 2-Hour Presentation (self-assessment)?

AE

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?

P

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

Once I had a steady schedule for my mentorship set up, my third and best answer became very apparent to me. The reasoning behind why is was my best answer just flowed very well after I saw my third answer in the real world. After I knew what all 3 of my answers were, I was able to focus my research in a much more efficient manner. 

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would have you done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?

I would have gotten started on my mentorship much sooner. Since I started much later than usual, I had to set up a full schedule to go to the West Covina courthouse in order to fill the 50 hour requirement. On top of that, I would have planned out my schedule for my Independent Component 2 much more evenly. Overall, I would have managed my time with long term components much better. 

(5) Finding Value. (How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?  Be specific and use examples. )

Honestly, this project has given me a very clear direction of what I want to do as a career and what I can expect out of it. I want to major in Political Science in college and go to law school to become a prosecution lawyer. My time at mentorship has given me a clear direction for that. My Independent Component 2 has put me through the material that I will be faced with in a typical Political Science course. Overall, my senior project has shown me the direction that I will take during and after college. 

Blog #25: Mentorship

Literal

• Mentorship Log 
• My first mentor was Peter Bliss. Then it changed to Javier Perez when Mr. Bliss was promoted. The number is the same: (626)-813-3301

Interpretive
My time spent at the District Attorney's office in the West Covina courthouse was very well spent. 

From my time observing and talking with the DAs, I actually figured out my third answer; making 

sure evidence is admissible in court. This turned out to be my best answer. And, while there, I 

learned a lot about the criminal justice system from a hands-on perspective. 

   
Applied
 My mentorship helped answer my EQ by showing me that my first two answers needed a way to be 

applied towards actually securing a conviction. Once the testimonial and forensic evidence has been 

collected, it needed a way to be applied towards the conviction process. I saw my third answer in action 

every time I went to mentorship when I saw the preparations that the DAs went through to make sure   

that they were using the evidence to its highest potential. 

Blog #24: Exit Interview Questions

1. What is your essential question?  What is the best answer to your question and why?

My essential question is; What is most important in securing a conviction in a criminal investigation? My best answer is my third one which is; Following chain of command to properly present evidence to a jury and this is my best answer because it really is the only way to guarantee a conviction since any evidence must be admissible and convincing to a jury if you want to get a guilty verdict.  

2. What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

My EQ started as "What is most important to solving a criminal investigation?" But, after meeting with Mrs. Pittman and Mrs. Ortega, I knew that just solving an investigation is not enough. Something productive must come of it such as  conviction from the information that has been gathered. And, from my time at mentorship, I learned how extensively prosecutors must work to ensure that any evidence gathered is properly presented. I observed all the DAs at the West Covina courthouse work tediously to make sure each piece of evidence was as convincing as it could be. 

3. What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

The biggest problem that I faced was finding a mentorship. I spent a lot of time calling the Baldwin Park Police Department hoping to mentor with one of the detectives there. I was informed, after several weeks, that the Police Station was in the process of being closed down and I wouldn't be able to ever volunteer with them. After me EQ had changed to what is most important in securing convictions, I looked 

4. What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

One of my best sources was my fourth interview subject, Ryan Erlich. I learned so much about the court process in that interview and he sat down and talked with me about my 3 answers for my EQ. My other very important source was a document I found called Basic Trial Techniques for Prosecutors published by the American Prosecutor's Research Institute. It gave a complete run down of a prosecutors preparations and objectives during a trial and helped me find my 3rd and best answer.

5. What is your product and why?

My product would be that I know this is a career field that I want to pursue. I learned skills that I intend to perfect in college. And, most importantly, I gathered the personal contact information of 7 of the deputy DAs and built social capital with them to the point where they have offered to help me with any future ambitions I have in the criminal justice field. 

Blog #23: 2014 Interview

1. Who did you interview and what house are they in?

Xavier Quiroz, North house


2. What ideas do you have for your senior project and why?
For my senior year project I was thinking about doing it on being a Fire Fighter because I am the eldest 

of 4 boys and my mom have always wanted one of us to become one. So I thought, might as well it 

seems like fun.


3. What do you plan to do for your summer 10 hour mentorship experience?
I am gonna apply at a fire house to see if I can get my hours there.


4. What do you hope to see or expect to see in watching the 2013 2-hour 

presentations?
I hope to see some examples of a great presentation so that way I can do my perfectly.


5. What questions do you have that I can answer about senior year or senior 

project (or what additional information did you tell them about senior year or 

senior project)?

Does everyone prepare all year for the project, or is it a last minute thing?


My answer: To answer your question, it is prepared for all year. Every component we do connects 

back to our personal EQ somehow. For example, we have to do a science experiment. And that 

experiment has to answer a hypothesis having to do with our topic. It takes all year researching and 

gathering data to do the senior project. And, for firefighting, you mind want to check out the LA 

Explorers.

Blog #22: Final 3-Column Chart

Click here.

Blog #21: Independent Component 2

LITERAL
(a) I, Gawen Grunloh, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
(b) The ALEKs website, with the various assessments and practice problems that were explained to me, were my best teaching and learning source for this component. 
(c) Log of my time spent on ALEKs. 
(d) I completed 30 hours of course work on the ALEKs course for Statistics of Behavioral Science, which is outlined here. 

INTERPRETIVE 
I have screenshot of different intervals of myPie progress as well as the attendance report for the course work. My initial assessment was at 18%, my first checkpoint assessment showed that my acquired  knowledge had doubled to 36%, and my second assessment showed an increase to 44%. I consider all of this good considering that I learned all of the material from ALEKs as I went along. 

My Pie chart when I first began the Behavioral Science course. 

My Pie chart at 15 hours, about halfway through my work. 

My Pie chart when I completed the 30 hours. 

My total time spent each day as well as each topic mastered.

My progressed on the assessments in between topic lessons. 

This list shows the total amount of hours I spent on Aleks  as well as the topics that I mastered in that time. 

APPLIED
The course work at ALEKs helped me to understand how statistics work and how to best interpret statistical reports. Probability in populations is a large part of understanding crimes that could be committed within a certain community. Furthermore, this course work gave me a head start on understanding the work that I want to major in while in college; Political Science. 

Blog #20: Three Column Chart

Three Column Logic chart

Blog #19: Senior Project and ESLRs

1. I have done my best in the Effective Communicator ESLR. 
2. I believe I have done the best in this ESLR because of my communication with both the teachers in regard to my project ideas and communication with my peers in senior project ideas and ASB related functions.
3. This picture of an extensive email conversation I had with Mrs. Pittman shows how much I had to communicate to figure out my 3 answers as well as the parameters for my Independent Component 1. 

Blog #18: 2 Hour Meeting Answer #3

1.  What is most important to securing a conviction in a criminal investigation?2.  Obey chain of command and understand how to process each piece of evidence. 
3.  
a) Evidence is useless if it is not admissible in court.
b) Each type of evidence needs to be handled differently from fingerprints to testimony.
c) Evidence requires signatures from everyone it comes in contact with to avoid being labeled as contaminated. 4.  Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward. Washington, D.C.: National Academies, 2009. Print.
5.  I plan to study the whole process of taking a piece of evidence from the crime scene to the courthouse to fully understand how meticulous the chain of command is. 

Blog #17: Fourth Interview Questions

1. What is most important to securing a conviction in a criminal investigation?

2. What methods of interrogation do you use?

3. How is questioning witnesses different from questioning suspects?

4. What do you recommend if a suspect is being difficult with questions?

5. What is your worst case scenario in an interrogation?

6. What is the chain of command for evidence?

7. What are some examples of evidence contamination? 

8. What has been your experience with evidence contamination?

9. What type of evidence do you believe is easiest to contaminate?

10. What type of evidence do you believe is most difficult to contaminate?

11. How do you best tell when a subject is lying?

12. Discuss the various types of evidence and how it is collected 

13. Discuss how the evidence will be examined 

14. Discuss the types of information the evidence can provide

15. What is the mindset of the investigator?

16. Discuss the innovative applications used in criminal investigations.

17. What happens if evidence is lost due an investigator's error?

18. What kind of training does one have to go through?

19. What are some of the challenges when dealing with informants? 

20. How would you determine if a specific informant is the right fit for the investigation? 

Blog #16: 2-Hour Meeting Answer #2

1. What is the most essential factor in solving a criminal investigation?
2. Properly collecting and preserving evidence.
3. During a criminal investigation, so much information can be gathered from processing the evidence at the crime scene. DNA analysis can be taken from tissue samples, fingerprints can be lifted off of surfaces, and fibers can be compared. The physical evidence will also never lie where a suspects testimony might. 
4. (Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward. Washington, D.C.: National Academies, 2009. Print.) A book that goes over the importance of forensic sciences in the United States.
5. I plan to continue my study of answer 2 by finding some form of online course that teaches the basics of forensic investigation.

Blog #15: Independent Component 2 Plan Approval

1) I plan on completing my 30 hours on the Behavioral Science Statistics course of ALEKs.
2) I will record how long I spend on the course and, hopefully, have the final certification to show at the end.
3) The course that I hope to take will improve my knowledge of criminal investigation as a whole and will show that I have put extensive time into training myself for understanding the statistics of behavior.

Blog #14: Independent Component #1

Literal:

1. I, Gawen Grunloh, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30.5 hours of work.
2. An article I found called “What is the best pistol for police officers?” on a site called spartan cops helped me complete this component because it gave a criteria for what criminal investigators would value most in a sidearm so I knew what to consider.
3. Work Log
4. I analyzed which sidearm would be the most reliable and most efficient protection for an investigator to take in the field to maintain safety.

Interpretive:

1. My charts and graphs of the data I found that shows my analysis of the various firearms. My analysis states that the Glock 22 model of sidearm is the ideal weapon for criminal investigators. I also spent time at a shooting range to get an idea of what each of the categories I researched actually meant and found that they made quite a difference. 

Pictured is a .38 I had a chance to take a picture of at the shooting range. I didn't analyze this sidearm because it isn't often used by investigators.

Applied:

1. From this component, I understand that a lot of thought has to go into the tools that a criminal investigator must consider to get the job done. Here alone, I had to consider 7 different aspects of each gun before coming to a reasonable conclusion. When in the field, investigators can't afford to not make an educated decision in which tools they take with them to maintain safety. I now understand how much investigators have to consider in choosing their tools on the job. 

Blog #13: 30 minute presentation [Rough Draft]

30 minute lesson plan

Blog #12: Third Interview Questions

Interview Questions:

1. What is the most essential factor in solving a criminal investigation?
2. What do you feel is more important in an investigation, forensic evidence or testimony?
3. Why do you think one is more important than the other?
4. What do you look for first when you start an investigation?
5. Why do you begin a case in this manner?
6. Would it be possible to solve a case with only one of these methods? Why?
7. When do you consider a case completely solved?
8. What is the hardest aspect of criminal investigating?
9. What do you usually do when you find yourself stuck during an investigation?
10. What else do you suggest I do to educate myself on this topic?

Blog #11: Mentorship 10 Hours Check

1. I am currently calling other police stations to do my mentorship at since I was recently informed that my intended station will probably be shut down.

2. I have a contact in Walnut Sheriff's Station (Sergeant Angie Wilkson) and two in Baldwin Park Police Station (Detective Sergeants Hoffman and Kirkman).

3. I have not been able to complete any hours.

4. N/A

5. N/A