Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Gordon Woodworth, Chronicle News Editor
Rich Morin, who owns Rich Morin’s Professional Scuba Centers in Glens Falls, will teach underwater Crime Scene Investigation in a pioneering 10-week course this summer at SUNY Adirondack in Queensbury.
The course, not yet for credit, is geared to any student in the 64-school SUNY system and to criminal justice majors at other colleges and universities. It will run five days a week from June 6 to Aug. 12 and cost $9,675.
“This is the first program like this anywhere in the world,” Mr. Morin said. “We will do dives in the Hudson River, in Lake George, in abandoned quarries in Vermont, and in the southern basin of Lake Champlain. The course is open to the general public, and is not for credit yet, because SUNY classifies it right now as an experimental program, but we are hopeful it will be approved as for-credit curriculum.”
Mr. Morin said, “I’ve got $600,000 invested in this so far. I’ve been working on this since 1993, and run into so many naysayers. I just continued to persevere. I was snickered at and laughed at, but two years ago I went on a national lecture circuit, speaking to law enforcement personnel, and the response was overwhelming. They were amazed that there are no standards for underwater crime scene investigation.”
He developed a four-course curriculum through his new non-profit, Underwater CSI International, which he started with Ed Miron, the company’s executive vice president and Chief Operating Officer.
Mr. Morin said, “It’s approved by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors, the largest organization of its type in the world. That will allow a diver to get certification and recognition from an international diving association.
“Our goal is to train existing criminal justice students — nationally, there are more than 500,000 — on how they can apply what they have learned to unique underwater environments. We are working closely with criminal justice departments around the Northeast.”
Mr. Morin said since 2003, he has studied all of the high-profile incidents that involved underwater investigation, like the sinking of the Ethan Allen tour boat on Lake George in 2005 and the “Miracle on the Hudson” emergency landing of the US Air jet on the Hudson River in 2009.
“The plane that made the landing on the Hudson River eventually sank, and special equipment and training for underwater investigation wasn’t available,” he noted.
This summer’s course will cover foundational skills needed for underwater crime scene investigations and underwater recoveries, like operating a boat and side-scan sonar. No prior diving experience is necessary, Mr. Morin said.
The second 10-week course, in the summer of 2017, will teach how to operate underwater diver propulsion vehicles, become expert in underwater navigation and dry-suit diving, and how to use recovery equipment, organizers said.
A third course will certify students as underwater crime scene investigators, providing training in swift-water conditions and in recovering evidence and victim recovery. A fourth course is an eight-day program that will teach ice diving in the winter.
Mr. Morin said the long-term goal is to provide training year-round at “the world’s first training facility to specialize in underwater crime scene investigation.”
Mr. Morin said he’ll attend the SUNY Adirondack open house on Friday, April 9, from 9 a.m. to noon. Also, SUNY Adirondack will host a free seminar on the Underwater CSI program on Saturday, April 16, at 1 p.m. Info: 743-2318.
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