Crime and Community Mapping Certificate
Mapping technology allows police departments to visually track and identify types of individuals. This map shows addresses of known gang members.
This 12 credit certificate in crime and community mapping develops data mapping and analytic skills which are highly marketable in the criminal justice and social service professions. You will not only learn the principles of criminal justice and the factors associated with criminal behavior, but will also collect geographical data and evaluate it from the perspective of police and criminal justice agencies.Even better – you will work with real police department data and provide results that assist local law enforcement agencies.
What is crime mapping?
Crime mapping is a form of crime analysis which allow you to find geographic trends on anything, from the number of home burglaries in a certain radius to the location of criminally charged persons within 20 miles of an elementary school. If there is an increase of armed robberies in a town, you will know how to map the location of the robberies and analyze the results to find patterns and aid prevention efforts.
Crime mapping is used for incident analysis, gang hazards, resource allocation, offender tracking, and parole and probation monitoring. Social service agencies and police departments need to work smarter, not harder, and these mapping skills are essential to accomplishing this.
Why earn a crime mapping certificate?
Crime mapping is a highly valued skill. Cedar Crest’s criminal justice degree is unique in that it is a behavior-based program where you learn and understand what influences criminal behavior, and, therefore, how to aid in the prevention of criminal acts. Over the past 20 years, police and criminal justice agencies have increasingly devoted attention to crime prevention and have developed mapping technology which allows them to evaluate patterns of behavior in select areas.
For those pursuing degrees in social service disciplines, the ability to organize and analyze geographic data has become a sought after and essential skill. Cedar Crest students learn using ESRI, one of the top crime mapping software products used by social service agencies. Whether your interest lies in criminal justice, social work or psychology, crime mapping can increase your marketability and provide greater insight into crime prevention.
Is this certificate for you?
The crime mapping certificate is designed to easily fit within the schedule of any student interested in a social service discipline. Day and evening classes are offered in either accelerated or traditional formats. The certificate provides the highest quality education at a pace that works for your schedule. Students who come to Cedar Crest solely for the crime mapping certificate may wish to consider continuing on to complete their bachelor’s degree. Credits from the certificate will count toward your degree.
Program Highlights
- ACCELERATED EVENING COURSES make it possible to complete the certificate in two semesters.
- LEADING-EDGE, industry standard mapping software for students to develop their skills, using real police department data to provide actual results through concepts learned in class.
- CRIMINAL JUSTICE INSTITUTE provides crime mapping solutions to police departments and social service agencies while giving students real world data and scenarios.
- HIGHLY QUALIFIED PROFESSORS with expertise in the criminal justice field, as well as, mapping software analysis.
- 1 or 2 YEAR PROGRAM options allow you to choose between traditional or accelerated classes.
Required Courses
The certificate is a 12-credit program consisting of two lab-based computer courses and two theory courses. They are as follows:
CRJ 110 Introduction to GIS and Crime Mapping
CRJ 210 Advanced Crime and Community Mapping
CRJ 212 Problem-oriented Policing
CRJ 312 Crime and Place
Two Year or Two Semester Program
| Fall Semester (Traditional) | Spring Semester (Traditional) |
| Introduction to GIS and Crime Mapping (D) | Advanced Crime Mapping (D) |
| Fall Semester (SAGE) | Spring Semester (SAGE) |
| Introduction to GIS and Crime Mapping / Advanced Crime Mapping (N-Hybrid 7 wk) | Crime & Place / Problem-Oriented Policing (N-Hybrid 7 wk) |
Course Descriptions
CRJ 110 Introduction to GIS and Crime mapping
This course is designed to introduce the student to one of the most popular pieces of criminal justice technology in the field today. The ability to analyze information geographically is important not only in the field of criminal justice but also in fields such as psychology, social work, business, marketing, public health, and a wealth of others. Developing an understanding of the geographic distribution of a wide range of events, conditions, and patterns is essential in developing interventions and strategies that that are effective at addressing the distribution issue. This course will introduce the student to the mapping software and allow the student to begin to understand how to geographically display a variety of different social conditions and community information.
CRJ 210 Advanced Crime and Community Mapping
This course is designed to advance the skills that were obtained in the introductory mapping course. The course assumes that the student has a basic understanding of the GIS mapping software and is intended to present for discussion advanced topics such as map animation, hot spot analysis, creating buffers, distance analysis, and querying maps. Once completed the student will be able to demonstrate an advanced level of understanding as to how to map community incidents and information.
CRJ 212 Problem-oriented policing
Over the past four decades the function of law enforcement has changed dramatically. Police are no longer simply expected to respond to crime: they are now expected to prevent it. This course will focus on one of the founding concepts of this movement: problem-oriented policing. This style of police organization focuses on the identification and resolution of community problems, and the partnering between community agencies and police; rather than on traditional arrest and patrol practices. Students will learn the concepts behind the practice of problem-oriented policing and will learn how to apply them in an attempt to solve community problems.
CRJ 311 Crime and Place
This course focuses on the social ecology of crime in that it examines the relationship between crime, victimization and the environment. Ecological theory examines spatial and temporal patterns of criminal conduct and victimization. This course also examines community and environmental strategies which have been developed to reduce the likelihood of criminal behavior.
