Richland County Coroner Investigator Speaks to Students on Detecting and Determining the Nature of Crimes

This post is one of several which cover professional speakers the Criminal Justice Program brings into the classroom, allowing students to learn from and connect with experts who currently work in a variety of areas in the criminal justice field. Check out our recap post for a list of speakers the CJ Program hosted during the fall 2015 semester.

For students in all class levels, professors in Ashland University's Criminal Justice Program invite community speakers in to the classroom to expose students to the best and most up-to-date information and practices possible.  This also allows students to make connections with professionals and organizations in the area, which can provide valuable networking experience. 

Recently, students in Professor Hedrick's classes heard from two guest speakers.  In the Advanced Criminology & Profiling (CJ 415) class, students learned from Richland County Coroner Investigator, Robert Ball. 

Brian Saterfield, Chief of Police in Galion, Ohio, and former detective with the Marion, Ohio, Police Department spoke to students in Criminal Investigations (CJ 200) and in Role of Police in Modern Society (CJ 270). 

Melissa Smith, a senior criminal justice and psychology major enrolled in these courses, describes the presentations and how the information and techniques outlined by each of the speakers ties in to what she is learning in the class.



Robert Ball, Investigator Coroner for
Richland County

"Mr. Ball discussed the differences between detecting if a crime is a homicide or a suicide. He even brought in pictures to help us distinguish the differences! The Profiling class was discussing staging in a crime scene, or when an offender deliberately changes the physical evidence of a crime scene to elude the police. 

Mr. Ball discussed how to determine if a scene has been staged, which will then help determine if it’s a suicide or a homicide. He explained that the key is in the details, and to always be skeptical of what you are seeing. You can’t make any assumptions; everything needs to be proven!  This is just like in the academic research process when applying the scientific method.

The Criminal Justice students enjoyed hearing from him and seeing the pictures to get a better idea of what a real crime scene looks like and how to investigate it."

Click here for a recap of Chief Saterfield's presentation on the investigative process!