Stockton University's CSI Camp is celebrating its 20th year of giving high school students a hands-on introduction to forensic science and criminal justice careers through staged crime scene investigations and mock trials.

The weeklong summer program, founded by criminal justice professors Christine Tartaro and Joshua Duntley, hosts three sessions each year with about 30 students per session. Campers work in teams to investigate a staged homicide, collecting evidence, photographing crime scenes and lifting fingerprints before presenting their findings in a mock trial.

The camp also includes tours of criminal justice facilities, such as the Atlantic County Jail, the Shore Medical Center morgue and the Atlantic City Police Department, depending on agency availability.

"With the popularity of all of the crime shows there's so much misinformation out there," Tartaro said. "Students are coming to college having a very unrealistic idea of the careers and what is real and what isn't. This camp helps students figure that out, and we help to guide them to what are more realistic career options."

Duntley said the goal is to expose students to every step of the criminal justice process.

"We give them a crash course of the whole criminal justice process, from discovering the crime all the way through the final verdict in court," he said.

The camp has attracted students from across the United States, including Alaska, Oregon, Arizona and Kansas, as well as Mexico and Puerto Rico. Tartaro said an analysis conducted several years ago found that about 13% of camp participants later enrolled at Stockton.

Several students said the experience strengthened their interest in criminal justice careers and helped them determine whether Stockton was the right fit for college. Gloucester County Institute of Technology senior Olivia Kwashek said the program confirmed her desire to pursue forensic investigation.

"It's helped me solidify that I want to go here and also the exact program I want to major in," Kwashek said.