Assignment: Presentation of Criminal Justice Research and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

A simple map is a basic representation of space—boundaries, a route, and landmarks. You may consider it to be two-dimensional. However, maps can also be considered many layered representations of data or information. They can show connections, relationships, patterns over time, or many other attributes intended to communicate about the factors influencing a given space. Crime is one of those attributes. And when considering crime as a layer, many other attributes can be examined to discover connections between crime, its causes, and its patterns. In this Assignment, you combine your ongoing research presentation skill building with a consideration of crime mapping.

Submit a chart and/or graph as directed in Part I, and in 500 words, address the prompts in Part II.

Part I: Visual Representation

• Locate the most recent crime statistics for your home town or a nearby area.
• Create a chart or graph to help you present the crime data.
• Note the distribution of crimes based on the statistics you found.
• Be sure to properly cite the data source.

Part II: Narrative Analysis

• Locate a police department within your state or a neighboring state that utilizes crime mapping technology.
• Explain how this technology is either being used or could be used to address the crimes you highlighted in your graph or chart.
• Explain how crime mapping could be utilized as a tool for law enforcement and other criminal justice professionals to help reduce and prevent crime.
• Explain how another technology could help in researching or preventing crime in tandem with or in addition to crime mapping, explain how.
• Explain how the presentation of crime mapping data and one’s understanding of that data affect a police officer’s daily experience on the job.
• Explain how the presentation of crime mapping data and one’s understanding of that data affect citizens’ understanding of their communities.

Be sure to support your thoughts using the crime data you collected along with the Learning Resources from this week. Submit the graph or chart you created along with your response to the questions for this assignment.