Harper College stages crime and water rescue for students

Harper College public safety students and faculty, with support from four area police and fire agencies, conducted a live exercise Saturday simulating a crime, an emergency response, and a search and recovery at one of Harper's ponds in Palatine.

"The crime students are going through this scene, trying to find evidence of a body in the water," said Daniel Pearson technical rescue instructor at the college. "When they do find evidence, we are going to put Harper students in the water as surface rescuers." The simulation allowed students to participate in a practice scenario incorporating multidisciplinary emergency response teams as they investigated and demonstrated the processes of law enforcement, forensic science, fire science and emergency management.

Participants included Hoffman Estates Fire Department divers, Palatine Police and Fire Departments, Harper College Public Safety faculty and students, and the Harper College Police Department.