Local Crime Statistics and Criminological Theory Application

Research Local Crime Statistics: Visit the website for your local police department, FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system, or any reliable crime data source (e.g., Lexis-Nexis CommunityCrimeMap.com, CrimeMapping.com or city-data.com). Locate crime statistics for your city or neighborhood for the past year. Focus on at least three types of crimes (e.g., property crime, violent crime, drug-related crime). Document the crime rates for these offenses and identify any trends (e.g., an increase or decrease in specific crimes). Criminal Law Connection: Identify one relevant law for each of the three types of crime you selected. Explain how these laws define the criminal behavior, including elements of the offense (i.e., actus reus, mens rea). Discuss the potential penalties for committing these crimes under local, state, or federal law. Application of Criminological Theory: Select two criminological theories from the course material (e.g., Strain Theory, Social Learning Theory, Routine Activities Theory). Analyze how each theory could explain the occurrence or prevalence of one of the crimes you researched in your area. Provide a detailed discussion of how social, economic, or environmental factors in your community could influence criminal behavior based on the chosen theory. Format Instructions Your paper must be double spaced, in 12-pt font, and with 1 margins all around. All APA 7th edition format requirements must be followed (cover page, in text citations, references page). Refer to the APA information found in Content -> Course Overview -> Course Resources. You must have resources to support your thoughts/opinions/information. These must be cited both in the text as well as at the end of the document. Your paper should not contain direct quotes, all source material must be summarized or paraphrased. Your paper must be attached as a Word document. You have access to Office365 via your UMGC student account, at mail.umgc.edu. Papers or information typed into the Comments box will not be accepted or graded. Any papers needing to be resubmitted due to not following these instructions will be subject to the late penalty. Your professor may, at their discretion, consider the submission date as the date the assignment is submitted in the proper format. To avoid a late penalty being applied, you should be sure to submit your assignment in the proper format. This should NOT be in flowing proseyou should answer in 1, 2, 3 format.