Students will be required to complete one five-page, double-spaced paper due on November 23rd. Papers will be written in APA format (see https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ for citation information and formatting) and will be graded for grammar and writing technique. The paper requires students to identify a problem facing a community in Louisville. The paper will highlight the problem, and identify an appropriate and feasible strategy for the police to address this problem. Students should select one peer-reviewed research study that is pertinent to their problem. Using this study, students will devise an evidence based solution to solve the problem. Students should summarize the study briefly, and discuss the COP strategy that was assessed in the study. Students will be required to outline their strategy, as well as the potential outcomes from implementing the strategy.
Due date: Prior to class on November 23rd. No late papers will be accepted. Paper must be submitted in both electronic and print format.
Steps to complete the paper:
1. Identify a problem that can be solved using community policing strategies in the Louisville Metropolitan area. Please use the topic approved by the professor this semester.
2. Once you have selected a community policing problem, find and read a peer-reviewed article that is related to the problem. You can locate peer-reviewed articles from the following sources:
a. Google scholar (must locate and find using Library database)
b. Evidence based policing matrix
3. While reading your article, try to identify the strategy used and whether or not it was effective to impact the specific problem you choose. From this strategy, devise a plan that will address the problem.
4. The paper should include:
a. Summary of the problem (2-3 paragraphs): Describe the problem you have identified supported by evidence that Louisville is facing this problem. This evidence can come from multiple sources: newspapers, LMPD website, Campus PD website, etc.
b. Summary of peer reviewed article (2-3 paragraphs): Summarize the peer reviewed study you find that addresses the problem. Briefly describe the problem discussed in the article, the police strategy used to address the problem, the methods of the research article (e.g., sample, police response) and the effectiveness of the program.
c. Strategy implementation and evaluation (2-3 paragraphs): Summarize the strategy you develop and include the following categories:
i. Strategy outline: discuss how you will implement your strategy with LMPD, including the treatment program and how this will be deployed into the community
ii. Outcome variables: discuss the variables you intend to change based on the implementation of your strategy (e.g., fear of crime, homicide rate, property crime rate)
iii. Hypotheses: discuss how you think your strategy will impact the community and why
You will be evaluated on a scale ranging from 1-20. The following components will be assessed:
1. Writing/Grammar/Format: Each student should write their manuscript according to APA guidelines. Moreover, the flow of writing, sentence structure, and grammar will impact your final grade. Specifically, higher scores will be earned by eliminating spelling errors, eliminating grammatical errors, and avoiding fragmented or run-on sentences
2. Summary of the problem: Each student should succinctly and clearly summarize the problem they choose to address. Complete summaries will include a discussion of the problem, accompanied by evidence supporting the existence of the problem (e.g., crime statistics, media attention, LMPD attention)
3. Summary of the peer reviewed article: Complete article summaries will include a discussion of the problem addressed by the article, the strategy implemented to address the problem, the methods used to evaluate the problem, and the effectiveness of the program implementation.
4. Strategy implementation and evaluation: Each student will be assessed based on the completeness of their strategy implementation. Complete strategies will incorporate an outline of the hypothetical program implementation, a discussion of the outcome variable, and hypotheses about how the implementation will impact the outcome variable
5. For each of these components, students will receive a score of 1-20. The score for each component will then be averaged to calculate the final grade for the paper
