PUBLIC SAFETY AND JUSTICE DAY  VINCE MARKOVIC- KIRTLAND HIGH SCHOOL

            Public Service and Justice Day began at the Painesville United Methodist Church with the usual meetings of our S.S. Kids groups. Then, Dave Cowen and Dick Bennett conducted an activity based around the third chapter of Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens, “Put First Things First.” We filled out a time matrix that helped us categorize our daily activities into four groups, Urgent-Important, Not Urgent-Important, Urgent-Not Important and Not Urgent- Not Important. After this, we were in for a surprise when a “murder” courtesy of the Lake County Sheriff’s Department happened right before our eyes.

            Next, we took a short walk over to the Lake County Common Pleas Court. There, we walked straight into the courtroom where Judge Eugene Lucci presided over a sentencing and a change of plea. Afterwards, Judge Lucci explained to us what had occurred and why it happened. Then he gave us a presentation about the history of Common Pleas Courts and their place in today’s justice system. After, we thanked Judge Lucci for his time and returned to the church.

            When we returned two men were waiting for us. The first to speak was a detective from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. He talked about the methods used to identify criminals from eye witness accounts. Next, Dave Green, a forensics expert from the Lake County Crime Lab talked about the techniques used to process a crime scene and other evidence. He also presented a slide show that provided information on how he and other forensics experts solved past cases from small pieces of evidence.

            To wrap up the day, we went to the Lake County Jail for a tour of the facility. The guys and girls were split into two groups and taken on separate tours of different floors. We took a shocking behind the scenes tour of the prison control/computer system. We also learned how a prison is run and kept a safe, controlled environment.

            Overall, Public Service and Justice Day was one of most enjoyable and action-packed days yet.