FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – University of Arkansas Police Department Cpl. Sid Ramirez recently completed a six-week training course to earn state certification as a Crime Scene Technician.

Ramirez has served as a detective in the UAPD investigation division for about four years. He joined the department in 2002 as a patrol officer after working several years with the Springdale Police Department.

The training course was developed for state law enforcement officers by the University of Arkansas Criminal Justice Institute in Little Rock, and is the only one of its kind in the state. It was designed to increase the value of forensic evidence in a criminal investigation by emphasizing evidence recognition and appropriate documentation, collection, preservation, and storage of physical evidence recovered from a crime scene.

Officers enrolled in the course attend for one week a month for six months, taking classes in crime scene management and crime scene photography; impression evidence; latent print processing; biological and trace evidence; crime scene sketching, note taking and report writing; and crime scene investigation. The course wrapped up in early June.

During the April session, however, things took an unexpected turn for Ramirez. He and other officers went to a local restaurant for their lunch break. During their meal the UAPD officer noticed a man at another table was choking. Ramirez acted quickly, performing the Heimlich Maneuver he’d learned in training years earlier.

“It’s incredible to see something really work after training on it year after year,” said Ramirez. “I got such an incredible high that day, seeing him walking out of that restaurant. Knowing that I made a difference that day.”

Just imagine how the other guy felt.