Tamaqua students are getting a real-life look crime scene investigation.

The seventh annual CSI camp continued at West Penn Elementary School on Wednesday. Campers are learning from West Penn Police Chief Brian Johnson, Sgt. Jason Lorah and many other local first responders this week.

“We have a schedule that we keep,” Johnson said. “The first two days, the sergeant and corporal teach their crime scene investigation; fingerprinting, photography, sketching and measuring, everything that goes along with collecting evidence. Today was the crime scene investigation and we basically took everything that they learned the first two days and applied it to the street.”

Students observed a mock accident on Wednesday and were able to witness the teamwork necessary to ensure the best possible outcome after an incident.

“We bring the fire and EMS in to show them how everyone works and comes together,” Johnson said. “Police are one entity in a group of people that are needed to make everything happen.”

The idea of CSI camp came from Lorah and West Penn Elementary teacher Michele Bittner, who is on campus this week organizing camp.

“Sgt. Jason Lorah and I are adamant about the D.A.R.E. program. We’ve been doing the program together for 13 years,” Bittner said. “Through that, we had conversations and we started this and the chief jumped right on board with us. Typically in the past we’ve opened it up to anyone in grades 3-7 in the area. This year, we were full of Tamaqua students before I could get it out to anyone else. The registration form went out in April and we were full by the end of the month.”

This year marked the first that the camp was held at West Penn Elementary, after it was formerly hosted at both the Commonwealth Charter Academy and the West Penn police station.

“We did it at our police station the first year and maybe we had 10 or 12 kids, now we’re at 30, which is our max,” Johnson said. “This year, we were invited to use the elementary school here, which is great. It opens up the possibility of everything that we can do here. It gives us more room and we can set up prior to us doing anything.”

The week is far from over and there is much more learning on the horizon.

The students will learn about narcotics on Thursday and get a visit from Gunner, who is Johnson’s K-9 partner. Campers will head to Pottsville on Friday to check out the 911 center and courthouse. The camp will culminate on Saturday.

“Saturday we set up four crime scenes,” Johnson said. “The kids have their own kits. They’ll have to use everything they learned and apply it to try and figure out what the crime is. The biggest thing from day one is to have fun. You’re here to learn, but keep it fun.”