CRJ 105: Crime and Criminal Behavior/ Assignment 1: UCR Performance Task

UCR Performance Task
Scenario

In June of 2016, you begin your first week as an intern at the Happy Town Police Department. As an intern, you develop a good rapport with Police Chief Rodney Hurt.

On the second week of your internship, you begin to ask questions (to the police officers you have been working with at the department) concerning the Uniform Crime Rate (UCR). You tell them you are taking a class at Strayer University and are interested in gaining a better understanding of statistics and the application of statistics to law enforcement.

The following day you are greeted by Sergeant Gunn. She provides you with Part I crime data over the past five years that were submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the Uniform Crime Report. The Part I information provided to you by Sergeant Gunn is a compilation of crime data drawn from four areas: Happy Town, Frown Town, Smooth Town, and Cool Town.

After a review of the crime trends, you are alarmed at the rate of crime reported in these four towns. You are now curious to dig a little deeper and make some comparisons across the data provided to you.

Instructions

Your task is to write a four-page report for the Chief of Police Rodney Hurt. He will use the report for his news conference regarding the public’s concern for the increase in crime over the past five years. In the report, you will include the following:

A definition and description of the Uniform Crime Report.
A description of the data-gathering strategy for your report and a rationale for why you chose that technique.
A discussion of the crime trends comparing Happy Town, Frown Town, Smooth Town, and Cool Town over the past five years.

Your report should clearly describe all the details necessary for the Chief’s news conference. Your answers will be judged not only on the accuracy of the information you provide, but also on how thoroughly the information is covered, how effectively the report is organized, and how well your writing reflects the conventions of standard written English. While your personal values and experiences are important, please answer all the questions in this task solely on the basis of the information provided in the Week 4 Assignment Document Library [PDF].

Formatting Requirements

This course requires the use of Strayer Writing Standards. For assistance and information, please refer to the Strayer Writing Standards link in the left-hand menu of your course. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

Self-Assessment Checklist

Use this to check your work before you submit your assignment:

My paper defines and describes the Uniform Crime Report.
My paper describes a data-gathering strategy and explains why I used that strategy.
My paper discusses the crime trends comparing Happy Town, Frown Town, Smooth Town, and Cool Town over the past five years.

The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is:

Summarize crime trends across jurisdictions based on a Uniform Crime Report (UCR) report.