The Department of Justice’s Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) is a valuable tool for forensic psychology professionals since it enables access to crime reports from around the United States and the world. This data repository continues to expand. One of the most recent crimes to be added to the UCR is arson. Are there other crimes that you would add to the UCR? If so, why?

For this Assignment, you will take on the role of a local forensic psychology professional who has been asked to develop a presentation for a town hall meeting addressing the types of crime in your area and strategies to address those crimes. Your presentation should include information about the frequency of different types of crimes, potential risk factors that may contribute to certain crimes occurring more frequently than others, and strategies that could help prevent certain crimes in the future.

Use the UCR data to help you answer questions like:

Why do some crimes appear to increase or decrease over time?

Are other communities’ crime rates higher or lower than your community’s?

What strategies might help law enforcement reduce certain types of crimes?

Review the FBI’s UCR found in this week’s Learning Resources.

Go to the Crime Data Explorer to access the crime reports for:

The city or neighborhood in which you live