Crime analysis is one of the most effective tools available to support law enforcement agencies today. Data collection is worthless unless it easily understood and has relevance to the case. Analysis of information provides the indicators of what one has and what is missing. The analysis ultimately organizes the information in a way that leads possibly to prosecutorial success.

Crime analysis is one of the most effective tools available to support law enforcement agencies today. Data collection is worthless unless it easily understood and has relevance to the case. Analysis of information provides the indicators of what one has and what is missing. The analysis ultimately organizes the information in a way that leads possibly to prosecutorial success.
With this notion in mind, students will be required to develop a proposal of guidelines for starting an “analytical unit” within a police department.
Your proposal should include the following:
Mission, goals, and objectives
Role of analysis within the department
Staffing
Procedures
Training
Expected products
Instructions: The final paper needs to be 8-10 pages long (excluding the title page, abstract page, and reference pages), with APA formatting, citations, and references.
The final paper needs to be submitted as an attachment in WORD. The final paper should be written in 12′ font, using Times New Roman. The font must be uniform and not consist of several different fonts. Margins will also need to be 1 inch on all sides. The final paper must be written in the third person. Do not write I or we in your paper. If you are stating your opinion you need to use the term “this student.”
A minimum of five references is needed for the final paper. Sources can include academically based books, journals, and government papers being acceptable. Sources used must have been published within the past 5-10 years of the current date. The more recent, the better. Examples of journals include:
Journal of Criminology
Crime and Public Opinion
Journal of Criminal Justice and Public Policy
Justice Quarterly: JQ
You will not be allowed to use web pages or web groups such as Wikipedia and Answers.com, as the information contained in these web pages are academically questionable. Furthermore, you will not be permitted to cite encyclopedias, dictionaries, web pages or questionable origin, newspapers (unless permitted), and popular magazines. It is important to remember that this is a college-level class and you are required to submit college-level work which is backed up with academically credible material. If you have a question about the quality of a potential resource please email me.