Independent Component 2

Literal:
I, Kennedy Holmes, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30.25 hours of work.
Log: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ai_B68EKJ7CHdG1xYTVaQWtpUHV6T1BVYjREbWlrVVE
On crimescene.com,

they give out fake cases every 8 weeks and throughout the 8 weeks you get different pieces of evidence

 and interviews with either witnesses or other detectives

 to try to figure out who the correct suspect is. They posted new things up every other day and it would always be up there for reference.

I also took a mini online course about chain of custody because I realized that it is very important in court when it comes to evidence. You would learn things on a few slides

Then you would get a quiz

and then if you got it right you could move on to other slides.

Interpreted:
This represent 30 hours of work because everyday i would take a significant amount of time reading over and watching the videos that they posted up. Once I was done with that I did have the option to look at the 5 most prior cases that they posted up and see all of the evidence photos and videos as well. I also did the online class that lasted about 2 hours because it went in depth with chain of custody which actually ended up being a significant part of my 3rd answer.
Applied:
Being given different pieces of evidence during the process was very helpful because it not only learned about the specific cases and the evidence pertaining to them but I also learned about how different types of evidence effect cases by importance. Such as a DNA mis match for a suspect being important versus a thread found on the scene or a witness testimonial. This helped my EQ " What is most important for a criminal investigator when collecting evidence leading to a conviction?".

independent component 2 plan approval

1. Do extra research specifically only reading real life cases and figuring out any connections between them involving the evidence.
2. I was either going to watch 30 episodes of documentaries or 60 pieces of research
3.my eq deals with evidence leading to a conviction and if I know what evidence to look for then this will give me answers.

Independent Component 1

My hours log:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ai_B68EKJ7CHdEluYkQxS3k3T2NyYkhwSDlwZHJ6S1E
I went almost every Thursday (11 in total) right after my service learning. I would stay there roughly for about 3 hours at a time which frankly for being at a gun range is fairly long.

Literal:
I, Kennedy Holmes, affirm that I completed my Independent Component which represents 30 hours of work.

I went to Bass Pro Shop in Victoria Gardens. They have a gun range on the top floor. The range has 4 lanes, unlike most ranges though you do have to provide your own guns. Because of being 16, I had to have an adult at all times. The person that I went with is a Sheriff in Orange County and has been for about 8 years. I used her work issued guns every time that I went to shoot.                  











I used 3 guns, my favorite was the XD9 simply because of how smooth the recoil was. The Glock is the most commonly used gun on the force. The recoil at first was harsh, but I soon got used to it. After learning how to position my hands to where I would have the most control, the Glock became easy to use. The Ruger on the other hand was always difficult to use. Unlike the other two guns, the trigger was very long and did not have a "memory". Meaning it did not lock half way after the first shot to make things easier and faster. I had plenty of aim problems with the Ruger because of how long it took to shot because of the long trigger. I would anticipate the recoil causing my hand to turn downward and shoot the floor. I tried to fix this by holding my hands higher than my desired target, which actually worked but still caused me to be off.

XD9

Glock 22 ( 40 caliber)

Ruger LCP 380

Evidence:
I created a slideshow of some of the pictures I took while being there, and of a couple of my targets.

https://picasaweb.google.com/105850293579552336120/GunRange
Interpretive:
The main purpose of doing this was to learn a skill set that agents need. One of the qualifications to even apply for the FBI is to have at least 2 years of experience in certain fields, one being to work at a police station. During your training, and during the duration of the time you work at a station you have to have an excellent shot. The sheriff that I went with said that she still has to go do tests where she shoots and has to hit certain targets. Once you leave the force, this skill does not leave. As an agent this rule also applies during training and the duration that you are working as an agent. I reached the 30 hours ( had closer to 33) by going to the range consistently.

Applied:
My first EQ was : What is the most important skill to have to become a successful criminal investigator? When I set this component up I did have that in mind. Having and practising my aim was a physical skill that investigators use.
My new EQ: What is most important for a criminal investigator in collecting evidence leading to a conviction?
My Independent Component can somehow also relate to this. A common piece of evidence in a violent crime are bullets. While I used these different guns, I became familiar with what size each bullet looked like and what their shells looked like. This can become useful when trying to figure out which type of gun was used in a case. If we determine the type of gun that can be very important evidence that can take part in leading to a conviction.

Independent Component 1 Plan Approval

1) I am still indecisive about what i will be doing for my independent component, but i do have a few ideas as to what I can do. The first is to do more service learning hours than required. I am going to be doing my service learning at NICB, but i was talking to the FBI to see if they can fit me somewhere there so for my independent component i can count those hours instead. Another would be a class, yet i am finding that to be difficult because of my age and lack of prerequisites from other college classes. I have been trying to find maybe an online course that i can take to cover this component also. I was wondering if i could take a language course? online or at a college, because one of the my answers is good communication skills and knowing many languages falls under that category. The more you know, the more cases you can work on because you can talk to witness' etc.

2) I will either do 30 more hours of work, or my class and homework should cover more than 30 hours.

3) This will relate to my EQ because from the classes or extra hours i will learn more methods and techniques used by investigators. Learning  these i will find out different skills and get more answers for my EQ.