Chess Game and Detectives

by Christine Freeman Shaub

Editor's Note: This unit, entitled "Police Investigative Challenges: To Snitch or Not to Snitch, That is the Question," was prepared in "Across the Curriculum with Detective Fiction," led by Paul H. Fry. It aims to enable students to learn about the techniques and challenges of solving crimes where there is an uncooperative witness.

These past few weeks, I have had the opportunity to indulge in some of my teacher's Yale experience. Who would have known that by reading a simple story [Edgar Allan Poe] that a person's mind could be opened to so many new things, all at one time? I believe that I am thinking the Yale way.

Ashlee Henry, 10th-Grader

Within the confines of teaching the law, unorthodox questions arise. As a legal vocational instructor at Howard High School of Technology in Wilmington, one of my responsibilities is to teach my students the expectations of the workplace, as well as the trade. In teaching 10th-graders Introduction to Criminal Justice, I was faced with students who were resistant to exposing important facts related to solving criminal offenses. When I posed hypothetical questions to my students about sharing information as a witness, the students did not want to be labeled as a snitch. In taking the national seminar "Across the Curriculum with Detective Fiction for Young People and Adults," with Paul Fry, I sought to develop a curriculum unit focused on how students could better understand the investigative challenges police face with reluctant witnesses. The idea was to hone in on the effects of snitching, witness intimidation, and ethnic and social perspectives in policing. All are key factors that can hamper a successful criminal conviction.

In teaching the unit, I chose to use several books, the first being Snitchcraft by Edera Davis. This book presents the social phenomenon of snitching, police corruption and the use of paid confidential informants. Ms. Davis offers an "After the Book" section that presents helpful questions for discussion and resources. The exciting part of teaching this unit was the interest evoked in the students by the readings. The students wrote a synopsis and offered opinions on the snitching problem that was presented in the book. They cheered for the success of the main character, but were disappointed when he was wrongly convicted. I think the most surprising and exciting part of teaching this unit was having author Edera Davis actually contact me after the unit was published. She commented, "I tried to incorporate values I was raised with [in the book], the need for education, prayer, respect, not to prejudge based on race, and an understanding that there are consequences for your actions. I really believe the public should know there are teachers like you and programs like the Yale National Initiative, trying to address present day issues with our youth." I was encouraged by Ms. Davis' words and shared them with my students. Her book was certainly a catalyst in helping me to address this timely issue with America's youth.

The next story was by the father of modern mystery, Edgar Allan Poe. Poe wrote "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," a classic murder story in Paris. Detective Monsieur Dupin (Poe writing in the first person) worked to solve the murders. Poe compares the analytical strategies used by a chess player and a detective as a means to decipher key moves in piecing together the puzzle. The reading and vocabulary were very complex for the 10th-graders. My teaching strategies were basic: read aloud and echo reading. Armed with our dictionaries, we entered the world of Detective Dupin. We examined witnesses and found their accounts obscure. After reading Poe, there was a vocabulary test and essay writing connecting snitching to the story. Student Karmel James states, "Not every witness will tell you what you need to know, detectives must find ways to solve the crime by using just what the witness tells them. Maybe the witnesses in the 'Rue Morgue' were afraid to 'snitch' because of repercussion of what would happen to them; that's what detectives face today." Student Ebony Spriggs states, "in order to get a witness to tell, sometimes you have to use the proper motivation, and be crafty, so that you can get them where you want them. Detective Dupin was very crafty."

Another component to teaching this unit was a project-based assignment. The students created informative brochures on snitching to pass out to the community. The brochure addressed snitching as a moral dilemma; it explained police and courtroom procedures and defined laws related to witness intimidation. Three of the students decided to start a "Snitching Awareness" campaign at our school. School Resource Police Officer Detective Diane Brown, along with students Gursimrat Kaur, Jonathan Vargas and Jeanine Mowbray conducted informative sessions in 9th-grade classes. They also made oral presentations to the Mayor of Wilmington James Baker, Public Safety Director James Mosley, and Wilmington Police Chief Michael Szczerba. The students explained that in many of their communities, witnesses were reluctant to be witnesses because of fear. They offered interventions to help law enforcement officers and the community with this problem. Their work was recognized by SkillsUSA, an organization where students demonstrate occupational and leadership skills in local, state and national competitions. For their work in "Snitching Awareness," the students received a silver medal in Tech Prep Showcase-Public Service Administration from the State of Delaware.

Christine Freeman Shaub is a Legal Vocational Teacher at Howard High School of Technology in New Castle County, Delaware.