|The American Academy of Applied Forensics is located at the Merancas Campus of Central Piedmont Community College in Huntersville, NC.|
CPCC established the American Academy of Applied Forensics in 2001 to meet the region’s rapidly growing need for well-trained professionals in the field of crime scene investigation. Recognized as a national leader in workforce development, the college received a series of Congressional appropriations to develop a state-of-the-art applied forensics program, then appointed the National Institute of Justice to administer funding for the Academy and oversee its planning and development.
The goal of the Academy is to offer the most advanced and comprehensive applied forensics training available to law enforcement and medicolegal (coroners, doctors, nurses, etc.) investigative professionals. AAAF provides a full range of in-service training in both general applied forensics and digital evidence. Courses in each area are taught by the nation’s leading forensic experts in state-of-the-art training laboratories and classrooms.
The AAAF staff is devoted to a philosophy of training that encompasses both conceptual and practical approaches to learning. Because the forensic sciences are advancing so rapidly, it is essential that crime scene investigators be trained not merely as technicians who collect and process evidence using one technique or another, but instead are equipped to be investigative professionals who understand and can apply the scope of scientific principles that govern evidence collection and preservation.
Equally important in AAAF’s training philosophy is the belief that instruction include hands-on opportunities to practice critical skills using the latest technology. AAAF’s staff of instructors is committed to using this combination of academic and technical expertise along with practical exercises to make our training comprehensive, responsive to the ever-changing nature of the discipline and applicable to the crime scene investigator’s day-to-day responsibilities.
With that training philosophy as a foundation, the American Academy of Applied Forensics offers two paths in the field of crime scene investigation: general forensics and digital evidence.