Research paper.  Students will complete a research paper during the semester that will be no less than 6 pages in length (12-point font, double spaced) with no less than 4 sources from either scholarly, peer-reviewed articles or government sources. This minimum length requirement is for the narrative, and does not include the title page, abstract or references page. The paper will ask you to synthesize information; assess statistical data and reach a conclusion about those data; engage in comparisons; etc.  APA format is required (i.e. title page, abstract, in-text citation of sources where appropriate and references page), and further details on APA format may be found on this link: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ (Links to an external site.).  Research paper topics will need to be approved by the instructor by the third week of class, and must be on a topic related to an area of law enforcement that interests you.  The research paper topic will need to be related to policing or law enforcement (example topics could include: community policing, comparing local, state, and federal law enforcement missions, police ethical issues, compare/contract police with private security, law enforcement’s role investigating computer crimes or other technology-based crimes, or other topics of interest related to law enforcement).