Upper Macungie Township Police Department recently concluded its latest Citizens Police Academy.

Run by Officer Pamela Mathias, Sgt. Peter Nickischer and Detective Adam Miller, the latest session was highlighted by visits from a representative of the Lehigh County Coroner's Office, the 17-year-old founder and president of Students Against Sexting, and a home security session led by Detective Darren Simmons and Sgt. Bill Easparro.

Chief Deputy Coroner Paul F. Hoffman Sr. D-ABMDI, explained there are four primary functions of the coroner's office.

First is determining the cause of death; second is determining the manner of death; third is making proper indentification of the deceased person; and fourth is "one of the hardest parts," Hoffman said, notifying the next of kin of the death of their family member.

Hoffman said the hardest part of his job is dealing with the death of children followed closely by notifying the parent.

"You are dealing with the hardest moment in a person's life when you have to tell them their loved one has pass away," Hoffman said. "I like my job despite its difficult moments because I like getting answers for families as to how their next of kin died."

In a criminal case, an autopsy is always performed and the family does not need to give consent.

If someone dies young from something like a heart attack and the coroner's office is able to find out the person had a congenital heart defect, "that information is passed on to family members," explained Hoffman. "That way other family members can be tested to see if they have the same potential problem and do something to prevent it from happening to them."

Hoffman said the coroner's office can investigate any time, from the moment of death to skeletization, which happens differently in all people."

"But, the longer time goes by, the less information can be collected from the body due to decomposition," he told those attending the academy

Hoffman said an unidentified body is buried in the county cemetery.

"It stays in our morgue for about a month as we try to find next of kin and identify the body," he said. "Anyone can go on a website called NAMUS to look for a missing person and compare records."

He also said television has sensationalized the way the coroner and police solve cases. They call it the CSI affect.

Immediate results just don't happen in the real world, he said, adding it takes time and careful investigation to get to the truth.

The next speaker was Anders Hemdal, founder of Students Against Sexting.

This 17-year-old student of Schuylkill Valley High School, Leesport, Berks County, was a victim of involuntary sexting, which is when a video or picture is taken of someone without his or knowledge and posts it on a website or texts it to others.

On a trip to Morocco with his school's Spanish Club, another student videotaped Hemdal and his girlfriend in a compromising position without their knowledge.

The video spread throughout the school and Hemdal and his girlfriend were humiliated.

He spent the next year at school feeling embarrassed.

His classmates bullied him, his girlfriend broke up with him and his grades took a nosedive.

They would show the video everywhere, at sporting events, at parties, he said.

"It was a nightmare," Hemdal said.

But his parents' reaction changed everything.

Instead of moving away or telling him to hide, they told him to take action.

"I just wanted it to go away, pretend it didn't happen, but my parents wouldn't let me hide from the experience," Anders said. "They made me do something about it. And I did. I started Students Against Sexting."

In its early stages of development, Student Against Sexting is trying to increase awareness, encourage kids not to sext and to recruit new members.

"It's like a taboo subject, but everybody is doing it, so it needs to be talked about openly," Anders explained.

Anders said many kids are sexting but they don't realize how huge an impact it can have.

"It's just an outright invasion of your privacy, " Anders said. "So, don't do it voluntarily. And if you know someone who has victimized someone like me, help stop it before it goes viral. Tell an adult. Try to make it stop in its tracks."

Anders said the best way to help is to "Like SAS" on Facebook or go to Studentsagainstsexting.org.

Citizens Police Academies are offered each year. To attend next year, contact the Upper Macungie Police Department.