Bryan Kohberger’s grad program had access to ‘crime lab’ videos: report
Accused killer Bryan Kohberger‘s PhD program at Washington State University allegedly had access to a “crime lab” database that includes police bodycam videos and livestreams from surveillance cameras.
A source at Washington State University, where Kohberger was a student in criminology, told Fox News Digital that his doctoral program is privy to the valuable trove of investigative videos.
It maintains a “Complex Social Interaction (CSI) Lab,” which provides graduate students with access to livestreams and crime scene videos obtained by police agencies, according to the outlet.
The source — who reportedly has direct knowledge of the program — said the materials could have allowed an unauthorized person to view unredacted crime scene images and videos using controls that could zoom in on faces.
The university told Fox News Digital that Kohberger was not part of the program, but students can apply for access to the CSI Lab by filling out a questionnaire online, according to the report.
“I don’t think that any amount of positive research that has come out of this department is worth the risks of letting a wolf in the henhouse,” the source told the outlet.
“They are all obsessed with crime and criminals — you’d have to be to have a PhD in criminology — but sometimes that obsession goes to other levels and attracts this kind of madness,” the insider added.
The CSI Lab and Division of Governmental Studies and Services research entities are located on the Pullman campus, Fox News Digital said.
Several police agencies share bodycam video with the CSI Lab database, including the Pullman Police Department, according to the insider.
WSU spokesperson Phil Weiler told Fox News Digital that the murder suspect never obtained entry to the programs.
“To be clear, Bryan Kohberger never had access to any footage from the Complex Social Interaction Lab at Washington State University,” Weiler told the outlet
“Access to that facility is strictly controlled. All research assistants must complete a background check, an FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Level 2 certification, be fingerprinted by the FBI and sign a confidentiality agreement in order to enter the facility,” he said.
In an email to The Post, Weiler also said “the anonymous source who made that claim clearly does not have first-hand knowledge of the program referenced and does not understand how the video footage in question is protected.”
The source claimed to Fox News Digital to have direct knowledge of “multiple individuals who have not gone through the vetting or training to enter the facility and work as part of their duties, including our technical support staff.”
Police in nearby Moscow — where the four University of Idaho students were killed on Nov. 13 — told Fox News Digital that the agency does not share its bodycam videos or any livestreams with the researchers at WSU.
Meanwhile, the insider also expressed concerns with the advanced study of crime in academia.
“I’ve always been skeptical of the research this department has done, especially the folks that don’t go on to solve real-world crime in law enforcement but stick around in academia and live and breathe this stuff on taxpayer dollars,” the source told Fox News Digital.
“And what does it really amount to? Basically just neutering police more and more every day. It’s just sickening after all this,” the insider added.
Meanwhile, Weiler noted that “the CCTV Internship program, jointly operated by the City of Pullman and Washington State University, ended in spring of 2020 due to COVID-19.”
Kohberger, 28, was arrested late last month in the stabbing deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, at an off-campus home.
The suspect, who has not yet entered a plea to four counts of murder and one of felony burglary, is expected back in court on June 26.
