On Tuesday, February 5, the Cornelius Police Department participated in the S.T.E.M. Event and Science Fair at Cornelius Elementary School. This annual event is an opportunity for the 3rd - 5th graders to display their science projects and see what jobs are available in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (S.T.E.M.) fields.

Detective Figaro showed the students and their families how to use an Alternate Light Source (ALS) System to identify evidence normally invisible to the naked eye. Students wore special googles and used a special flashlight to identify fliuds on a plate. The ALS System helps officers collect fingerprints, identify bodily fluids and distinguish between authentic and forged documents.

The students and their families also learned about the Forward Looking Infra Red (FLIR) Camera which is a handheld thermal camera utilized for searches, foot pursuit, surveillance, K9 tracking and locating missing person.

Cornelius Police Officers use Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics every day to perform their duty in Law Enforcement. Crime Scene officers use science when they have to test for drugs, DNA, or blood at crime scenes. Patrol Officers use technology like laptop computers in their patrol cars to obtain information on drivers and suspects. Traffic Officers use engineering and math to formulate and determine how accidents occurred. Manufacturers are always engineering new products to assist Law Enforcement Officers to make their jobs safer and easier.