Pick one of the Following: Police accountability programs, performance management programs, criminal investigation programs, public order management programs,
financial crime investigation programs, domestic violence programs, anti-terrorism programsanti

Order Description
Concept Paper Directions
Concept Paper. This paper, which is worth 16 points, is a review of concepts and theories

related to your research question(s) on a policing issue. The completed paper must be at least 3 pages long, if written in a double-spaced, 12-font, Word document.
Title and reference pages are not

counted as part of the page requirement. This paper provides the conceptual framework for the research paper you will write during the second half of the semester.
Because this is a seminar in Police Science, the topic of this paper must be related to police practices, operations, and/or programs. Other topics on
laws/legislations, courts, corrections, and social justice are not acceptable for this class. Following topics or areas are strongly recommended: Police accountability
programs, performance management programs, criminal investigation programs, public order management programs, financial crime investigation programs, domestic violence
programs, anti-gun violence programs, and anti-terrorism programs at the local level. Please note that the focus of this concept paper is NOT on a particular program
itself but on a conceptual understanding and/or theoretical explanation of the program in relationship to your research question(s) on a police issue. For this reason,
actual agencies, real programs, specific data, statistics, or information should not be mentioned. Neither should information on whether a police program works be
reported.
The following are specific guidelines for the concept paper. You must use page numbers and the highlighted section headings to divide and structure this paper.
Title of the Paper

This should be on your title page, where you write the title of your paper, the name of the class, your name, and date of submission.
Introduction of Research Question(s)

Here you will ask your research question(s), describe the rationale or significance of your research, and indicate specifically the scope and objectives of your
research. As a general rule, the scope and objectives of your research should be confined to understanding local police programs and operations.
Conceptual/Theoretical Framework

You will describe anywhere from two to five concepts or theories that are related to your research question(s) on a police issue as found in the literature in this
section. You should begin this section with a statement about all relevant concepts/theories you found and will discuss as related to your topic. You then will go over
them one by one with clear citations. Because this is where you write about your concepts, the core of this paper, you will focus on the theories and concepts only,
which you find helpful for understanding and clarifying your research question(s). For example, if your research question is, How should the police be held
accountable? You will find at least three concepts from the literature, i.e., civilian review, consent decree, and early warning system, and explain what they are and
why they are considered viable approaches theoretically for achieving police accountability. If your research question is, Why do police solve certain homicide cases
but not others? You will find at least two theories from the literature, i.e., social class theory and equal diligence theory, and describe them as possible
explanations. If your research question is, What can the police do to reduce domestic violence? You will find several concepts from the literature, i.e., arrest,
mediation, and separation, and explain theoretically why each of them may contribute to reducing domestic violence incidents. Please note that NO specific statistics
and/or agency practice information should be provided here. Minimally four academic journal articles and/or books are required and should be cited in this section.
Excessive quotes should be avoided. Where quotes are used, sources and page numbers must be provided in addition to the authors? last names and years of publication.
Proposed Research

You will first write the limitations or gap in your current understanding of your research question(s) based on your reading of the four articles and/or books here.
You will then describe what you plan to do further (i.e., further research on Criminal Justice Abstract and selection and examining evidence portions of research
articles/books/documents in the Library) to help you verify the theories discussed in the previous section and better understand your research question(s). You should
describe in detail all planned research activities in this section.
References

A full reference page is the last item of this paper with a minimum of four references listed in alphabetical order according to authors? last names. Do not use
numbers to list them. APA or ASA style for the references is expected for all referenced items. These sources should include journal articles and/or books and other
relevant documents such as government publications and reports. Magazine and newspaper sources may be used but will not be counted as part of the references. Internet
sources may be cited only when complete articles can be located online. Only credible internet sources should be used with clear indication of authors, sponsors,
and/or publishers. All listed sources must also be cited in the paper with the following information in parentheses: Last name, year of publication, and page number if
quoted, i.e., (Smith, 1989, p. 345).