Local Girl Scouts got the chance to play detective Sunday night thanks to a sergeant with the West Penn Township Police Department.

Sgt. Jason Lorah hosted the forensics workshop at St. Peter's Union Church in Tamaqua and gave members of the West Penn Girl Scout Junior Troop 31208 the chance to earn their detective badge."It's a great opportunity for the Scouts to get the feel of walking a crime scene and try to answer those who, what, when, where and why questions," Lorah said. "I gave them a situation where two people were watching television and one shot the other. They had to try to find the evidence, examine the scene and figure out what happened based on the clues."Before sending the Scouts into the prearranged crime scene, Lorah briefly explained the keys of collecting evidence, navigating the scene and crime scene photography, among other tips.Troop leaders Karissa Brothers and Denise Linkhorst said one of the requirements for the detective badge was for the girls to speak to someone involved with forensics.Lorah has given multiple classes and seminars in forensics in the past, including several that last up to six weeks."Ultimately the goal of any Girl Scouts activity is for them to learn and become better educated on a subject, and I think they did that here tonight," Brothers said. "A few of the girls really have an interest in it."Kyrsten Derr, for example, had a forensic-themed birthday cake for her 11th birthday party."She actually wants to be a forensic scientist," Brothers said.Lorah said he is glad the Scouts could be exposed to this type of work."If they like it enough, they may get into forensics in the future," he added. "In the end, we wanted to give them the opportunity to do this and see what they think."