Trevor B. Milton
Department of Social Sciences
Queensborough Community College-CUNY
Assessment Institute
Fall 2014
Course Assessment: CRIM 204
Course: CRIM 204- Crime and Justice in the Urban Community
Number of Sections: 1
Number of Students Assessed:
33
Overview of Course Assessment
CRIM 204 is an upper level Criminal Justice course that is an elective to the Criminal Justice
major at Queensborough Community College and an elective that can earn students placement in
the Justice Academy Program that typically enrolls them in John Jay College’s BA program. The
course studies crime and how it relates to community urban living.
The assessment of this course will focus on the final writing assignment given to all students in
this course (due at the end of the semester). For fall 2014, students were given directions to this
assignment on October 21, 2014 and the assignment itself is due on December 9, 2014.
Students will be graded according to a rubric specific to this writing assignment (see “Rubric for
“Crime Prevention in New York City” Assignment”) and then the course will be assessed
according to the Students Learning Outcomes (predetermined by the Justice Academy Program).
Student papers will be graded after December 9, and the assessment will be completed by
December 22, 2014.
Generally, students met the requirements of the assignment, with a few students exceeding
expectations and a few others falling short of the rubric goals altogether. Students were able to
address the majority of the Student Learning Outcomes throughout the course, but fell short in
some areas. This author recommends some changes to the course in order to meet all of the
Learning Outcomes.
Student Learning Outcomes as they relate to Course and General Education Outcomes
Course Objectives
Students will demonstrate an
understanding of the
characteristics of urban
settings that affect crime and
justice
Students will demonstrate an
understanding of how crime
data from urban settings are
collected and analyzed.
Students will demonstrate an
understanding of methods of
criminal justice in urban
communities.
Students will assess debates
about criminal justice in urban
communities.
General Education Objectives
Student Learning Outcomes
Students will use analytical
a. Students will define
reasoning skills and apply
key concepts in the
logic to solve problems.
study of urban
communities.
b. Students will compare
and contrast political,
economic, sociostructural and
psychological theories
of urban crime.
Students will differentiate and
a. Students will compare
make informed decisions
and contrast the
about issues based on value
various methods used
systems.
to research crime.
b. Students will analyze
quantitative data
showing crime trends
and patterns in urban
communities.
Students will identify concepts
a. Students will identify
and methods of the social
salient problems
sciences to examine human
involving criminal
behavior, social institutions,
behavior in urban
and multi-cultural awareness.
settings.
b. Students will compare
and contrast criminal
justice policy solutions
to urban problems.
Students will integrate
a. Students will identify
knowledge and skills in their
issues and
major field and across
controversies
disciplines.
concerning crime and
justice in urban
communities.
b. Students will evaluate
issues in light of
theories of urban
crime.
c. Students will analyze
empirical evidence
relevant to these
issues.
Student Assignment for Assessment: “Crime Prevention in New York City”
8-10 pages/double-spaced/ no larger than 12 size font
Choose a particular crime (incident) in New York City's history, and then divide the paper into
the following sections:
1. Describe the crime in detail (using both book and newspaper resources). When did this
occur? What were the dates? What were the circumstances? Who was/were the victim(s)
and offender(s). Tel me the story of the crime. This does not have to be a crime where
someone was found guilty in court (i.e. Casey Anthony in Florida), but you cannot invent
a crime from thin air (i.e. "the Boston Marathon bombing was an inside job orchestrated
by the President'). You must make the case that this was a crime even if the alleged
offender was an NYPD officer.
2. Students must use NYPD Compstat and/or the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI)
Uniform Crime Report (UCR) to discuss the five-year crime trends in the neighborhood
in which the crime took place. Was this crime a common occurrence? Or was this
unusual? Could this crime have been predicted, considering the trends? What were the
most common crimes in this neighborhood at the time? You obviously must know the
dates and neighborhood in which the crime occurred in order to do this section.
- If you are using Compstat: Use this link to determine which police precinct the neighborhood
falls in: http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/precinct_maps/precinct_finder.shtml
- Then use this link to view the crime trends in and around the year of the crime:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/crime_prevention/crime_statistics.shtml
3. Using newspaper resources, discuss how NYPD handled the incident and the measures
used to deter the criminal behavior. What type of surveillance or crime control did they
have in place in order to prevent this type of crime? Did they handle the incident
according to police protocol? How does the arrest made prevent this crime from
occurring again?
4. Discuss the measures that could have been implemented to "prevent" the crime
altogether. Forget about "crime control" and "punishment", and think "prevention." This
could be community centers or better relations between neighborhood residents and
NYPD. This section is all discussion and does not require any research. But you have to
discuss how this crime could have been prevented from occurring in the first place. What
type of surveillance could have been used? (i.e. a Subway bombing is prevented through
the "If you see something, say something" culture). How could the community have
played a role?
Analysis and Summary of Assessment
In order to assess student performance for this course, the following rubric was used to evaluate students.
Course objectives and Student Outcomes for this course were tied into the rubric and modeled as a
guideline for the final writing assignment. For the course, students were evaluated according to their
performance on the ‘Crime Prevention in New York City’ paper. For this 8-10 page writing assignment,
students will be scored in the following categories: ‘Thesis Statement,’ ‘Application of Quantitative
Data.’ ‘Essay Focus,’ ‘Use of Periodicals and Outside Reading,’ and ‘Mechanics and Style of Writing.’
Scoring well in each of these categories would likely lead to a grade in the ‘A’ range for the assignment.
Rubric for “Crime Prevention in New York City” Assignment
Exemplary
Thesis captures the
nature of the
assignment and
sets up a clear
argument for the
reader
Essay reflects a
mastery of the
crime data with
proper citation of
work from original
source.
Accomplished
Thesis is present
and clear, although
not fully reflective
of the assignment
prompt.
Developing
Thesis is difficult
to discern
Limited
No thesis
statement is
present
Essay reflects a
solid
understanding of
the crime data,
with some
moments of
confusion
Essay reflect little
understanding of
the crime data.
Essay focus
All paragraphs are
directly related to
the thesis, and
make clear,
paragraph level
arguments
Use of newspaper
periodicals and
course readings
Essay effectively
includes the
outside periodicals
and course
readings in order
to support the
student-writer’s
argument
Essay is well
written with strong
academic style.
Errors are
infrequent.
Essay is focused
on thesis, with
minor digression
or occasional
internal
paragraphing
problems
Essay includes the
outside sources but
does not directly
integrate them into
the studentauthor’s argument.
Essay reflects
uneven knowledge
the crime data. The
writer struggles to
use crime data and
apply it to the
theme of the
assignment.
Essay digresses
from thesis and/or
paragraphs are not
controlled
internally
Essay does not
include some of
the outside
sources.
Essay makes no
attempt to include
outside sources
Errors are frequent
and often impact
meaning.
Proofreading is
required.
Essay is riddled
with errors and/or
carless editing.
Thesis statement
Application of
quantitative crime
data
Mechanics and
Style
EC/Deductions
Essay is
acceptably written
with some
consistent errors
which nevertheless
do not impact the
meaning.
Essay maintains no
focus on the thesis,
and has little no
paragraph
coherence
Assignment Results
37 students were enrolled in the course. 33 students handed in the assignment and 4 abstained from doing
it. The following demonstrates how students scored in each category (the 4 students who abstained were
not counted):
Thesis statement
Application of
quantitative data
Essay focus
Use of newspaper
periodicals and
course readings
Mechanics and
Style
Exemplary
5 students
(15.2%)
5 students
(15.2%)
8 students
(24.2%)
3 students
(9.1%)
Accomplished
17 students
(51.5%)
8 students
(24.2%)
10 students
(30.3%)
13 students
(39.4%)
Developing
8 students
(24.2%)
12 students
(36.4%)
11 students
(33.3%)
14 students
(42.4%)
Limited
3 students
(9.1%)
8 students
(24.2%)
4 students
(12.1%)
3 students
(9.1%)
6 students
(18.2%)
16 students
(48.5%)
9 students
(27.3%)
2 students
(6.1%)
Generally speaking, most students either ‘accomplished’ the goals of the assignment or they were still
‘developing.’ The mechanics and theses statements were fairly well developed; most likely the result of
writing research papers in other criminal justice courses and the use of technology that automatically
checks spelling and grammar. Students had the most difficult time interpreting quantitative crime data, as
this was probably the first time they were exposed to New York City Police Department’s Compstat or
the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Report. Students often did not know how to
interpret numbers and simply included crime numbers without understanding how they related to the
assignment. Students also had a difficult time using periodicals and course readings (outside of simply of
‘Googling’ their research question). This proves to be difficult in most courses, but this is a necessary
skill for a continued college career.
Summary and Impact on Learning Outcomes
Queensborough’s Criminal Justice Academy/ Joint Degree Program with John Jay College of Criminal
Justice has a very specific set of Student Learning Outcomes outlined for this course. All of the Learning
Outcomes are addressed throughout the semester, but the following outcomes are emphasized in the final
writing assignment:
1. Students will compare and contrast political, economic, socio-structural, and psychological
theories in urban crime.
2. Students will identify salient problems involving criminal behavior in urban settings.
3. Students will analyze quantitative data showing crime trends and patterns in urban communities.
4. Students will identify issues and controversies concerning crime and justice in urban
communities.
As a result of this assessment, it was easy to see that students were able to efficiently address
Outcomes #2 and #4. Students tended to choose controversial topics such as the Sean Bell case of
2006 or the Central Park Jogger rape case of 1989. Students were able to discuss these topics while
addressing their impact on urban communities, the difficulty of investigating these cases, and then
dealing with the abstract concept of how these could have been prevented in the first place. Each
student has very strong opinions about how NYPD handled each of these cases and how they could
have handled these cases.
Students had a difficult time with Outcome #3, in particular how to interpret the crime data and how
they related to their cases. Although the instructions for this assignment was explicit in the directions,
perhaps students could use more practice interpreting criminal justice data throughout the semester
before they deal with it in the final assignment. Professors should set up a couple of ‘crime data
workshops’ throughout the semester in order for students to sharpen their interpretive skills early on.
Students also seemed to fall short of outcome #1. Although there were numerous classes that focused
on criminological/sociological/psychological theory throughout the semester, students were not
explicitly asked to use these theories in their final assignment. Perhaps this professor could continue
to teach these theories throughout the course, but then ask students to use specific theories to address
their final thoughts in the ‘Crime Prevention’ assignment.
Overall, the Crime Prevention paper was a useful tool for measuring student success and achievement
of course objectives and learning outcomes. More theoretical requirements should be added to the
final assignment, and more quantitative research could be added to the course throughout the
semester.
Appendix: Student Sample of Paper that Met/Exceeded the Requirements of the Rubric
NYPD Injustice
Crime Prevention Paper
Owner
NYPD Injustice
On December 6 2008, the very people that are supposed to protect us fail us, making this the
night in where a few statistics come to life. Recent statistics have found that “1 in 6 women had
experienced an attempted rape or a completed rape”. Although rape is prevalent in the United
States, rape is “the most under-reported violent crime in America"(UCLA Medical Center).
What is more appalling in America is the fact that acquaintance rape is much more common than
stranger rape. “In a study published by the Department of Justice, 82% of the victims were raped
by someone they knew (acquaintance/friend, intimate, relative) and 18% were raped by a
stranger” (UCLA Medical Center).
On the evening of December 6th, two NYPD officers were called in the East
Village by a cab driver to help a drunken woman get home safely, however, that night turned
into a nightmare. As the officers helped the unnamed woman into her apartment, one of the
officers raped her as she lay face down in her bed, semiconscious and covered in vomit while his
partner acted as a lookout. The two officers that were on call that night, Kenneth Moreno, 41,
who has been an officer for 18 years raped the woman and Franklin Mata, 27, who has been an
officer for three years, knew that his partner was having sex with a semiconscious woman and
did nothing to stop it. The next morning, the woman reported the incident to prosecutors and was
treated at Beth Israel Hospital. The officers were then stripped from their guns and badges and
were suspended from duty when the allegations became public. Although there was no DNA
evidence recovered at the scene, prosecutors stated that Moreno admitted to using a condom
during the assault. Both officers were indicted on first-degree rape charges, two counts of
second-degree burglary for re-entering the apartment twice, and nine counts of official
misconduct. Mata was also indicted on charges of criminal facilitation and tampering with
evidence for refusing to hand over his memo book used to record shift details and for not
stopping the rape, prosecutors said. Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata were suspended from
duty and pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of rape, burglary and official misconduct in the
Dec. 6 incident in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan. The two officers were held on
$175,000 bail. During trial, the two police officers insisted no rape occurred, with one allowing
only that he snuggled with her while she wore nothing but a bra. (NBC News 2009). Despite
security video of the cops re-entering the woman’s apartment three times that night — and a
seemingly damning confession by Moreno — on May 26, 2011, the pair were acquitted of felony
rape and convicted of official misconduct (Morabito 2013).After the verdict, Officer Moreno
said outside the courthouse that his accuser, who has a $57 million lawsuit pending against the
city and the officers, was “mistaken and confused,” and that “she made the whole thing up.” But
the officer, who appeared tense and tight-faced, also said he was not angry. “I’m glad it’s over,”
he said. “It’s a lesson and a win.” When a reporter asked Officer Moreno what he meant by
lesson, his lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, interjected, saying, “Well, we’ll just leave it at that.” The
case presented a formidable challenge for prosecutors: there was no DNA evidence suggesting
that either officer had committed a sexual act. The jurors, who reached their verdict on their
seventh day of deliberations, left the courthouse without commenting, and most reached for
comment later declined to do so. One juror, Richard Schimenti, said there was not enough DNA
evidence to convict as he says ‘“I did think that they might have had sex, but that doesn’t mean
that they did have sex,” he said. “There is nothing to substantiate this. There’s no DNA, there’s
no proof in any way that they had sex.”’ New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who
rarely speaks on pending cases involving officers because he may have to make internal
decisions, called the allegations "disgraceful" and said he did not want the charges to tarnish the
department's reputation for helping people. ‘This is a shocking aberration in stark contrast to the
outstanding work that the men and women of the New York City police department do every day
on the streets of our city," Kelly said. "The public needs to know that the police are there to
protect them. And I believe that they do.’” (NBC News 2009). Commissioner Kelly also stated
that the officers “would be fired immediately. (They had been suspended with pay.)” (Eligon
2011). The area where the tragic crime took place is located in the East Village on the Lower
East Side. East Village has been known for its diverse community in recent decades, it has been
argued that gentrification has changed the character of the neighborhood. The 9th precinct has
the designated jurisdiction over the rape that occurred that night displaying a trend in the last five
years from 1990 to 2013. According to the NYPD Compstat statistics, 2014 revealed no rapes
reported covering the week of November 17, 2014 through November 23, 2014. The historical
perceptive of the complete year data tells a completely different story of this neighborhood. In
the 1990s, the amount of reported rapes was at its highest, 41 in total. Through the Giuliani era
from 1993 through 1998, rape crime significantly dropped from 38 rapes reported in 1993 to 17
rapes reported in 1998. From 2001 through the 2013, rape crimes unusually drop and pick up
again with 2001 having 12 rapes reported to 2013 having a slight increase of 18 rapes reported.
The crime that was most common to the East Village from 2001 through 2013 was Grand
Larceny with peak of 738 in 2001 and with a shocking high peak of 904 total Grand Larceny
thefts reported in 2013. Due to the statistics present, this crime presents as a common occurrence
during the time of rape due to the proximity to Alphabet City with that area known for its high
crime activities, points to us of the possibility that the victim lived by the high crime area.
Furthermore, rape is also unusual in the East Village area as the NYPD Compstat demonstrates a
38.5% change in 2009. In addition, the East Village has gone through a vast evolvement during
the course of time during the rape. Based on the evidence in hand, this crime could not have
been predicted based on the historical perspective which illustrates a 50% change in 2013 versus
2001, if this was your average person to person crime. What causes this event to be so
traumatizing to the public is that this crime was committed by NYPD officers, making these
statistics questionable and the crime an appalling taboo.
Despite the courts verdict of acquitting officers Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata of
raping the East Village woman, justice was desecrated. The case sparked outrage across New
York City in 2011, even headlined a Law & Order: SVU episode, which not only portrayed the
crime but more importantly kept residents wondering how could this crime have been prevented
from happening in the first place. In spite of Commissioner Ray Kelly’s expressed concern and
remorse for the victim, he did handle this case according to police protocol by stripping the
officers from their guns and badges were suspending them from duty, but it seems as if the
system appeared to do little for the rape victim. NYPD and the city failed the rape victim by
tarnishing this woman’s credibility for the simple fact that she was drunk that night. According
The New York Times report, Susan Xenarios, director of the Crime Victims Treatment Center at
St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, who has been working with rape cases for about four
decades states ‘“I know that these cases are so” complicated, said Ms. Xenarios, who has worked
with rape victims for about four decades. “Because of her incapacitation, it just made everything
so much more complicated”’ (Eligon 2011). Her side of the story was not taken seriously enough
that the case seem to lean on a solely the police officers side of the story. Was justice served for
this woman who was in need? Or better yet how can this devastation have been prevented in the
first place? A primary way this crime could have been prevented from happening to the victim
that night was to have a buddy system. I believe one of the biggest mistakes the victim made was
leaving the party alone. Being outside alone on a late night opens the compounds to dangers
existing in the party scene. Men who are sexual predators prey on vulnerable woman particularly
a heavily intoxicated woman. A buddy system is a code of conduct women should always follow
when going out to have a good time. Step one of the buddy system is to have a designated sober
chauffer in case you get to drunk, something the victim failed to retain putting her at a great risk
leaving her to miss subtle cues how to defend herself properly that night. The sober chauffeur
would have guaranteed her safety that night by taking her home personally or the bringing her to
your home for the night. The measure that could have been implemented by the NYPD to
prevent this crime from reoccurring is to enforce tighter protocols on officers such as keeping
communication at all times. In his account of the evening, Moreno said he “bonded” with the
woman; he said he is a recovering alcoholic who counseled her about alcoholism after she told
him her friends were mad at her for drinking too much. He also claimed that she flirted with him
after he helped her into her apartment, which led to him cuddling and kissing her. One of the
protocols that need to be enforced by police officers is that they are not paid to aid as counsel
especially a severely intoxicated person. A police officers job is to serve a person in need of
police protection and the best way this could have been accomplished for the officers was to call
the nearest emergency room to insure here well being. Police officers should not only have
partners but keep constant contacts with their precincts and in this case a local hospital. A further
recent way the NYPD could securely prevent this crime from reoccurring is to have police
officers body cameras at all times. Many believe that cops cannot be trusted , the best way to
ensure police officers are following police protocols set in place is through technology. By
monitoring police officers everyday footsteps, will not only improve the behavior of officers but
also dissuade people from filing false complaints. These cameras can warrant justice for our
victim, by providing a detailed account of the night.
I believe this crime could have been prevented though a buddy system when the woman
went out for drinks as well as the chauffeur driving the clearly intoxicated woman home,
although it is understandable why he called the police. On my final analysis of this case, I
believe there is no doubt that this woman was raped that night. The verdict for this trial was a
tragedy for the woman seeking justice from the government and yet, the final verdict was not a
surprise to many, including myself. The NYPD officers hid from the truth and covered their
tracks, tarnishing the credibility to the New York Police Department. Reporting a crime with no
justice in return further adds to the lack of trust the community has for police officers and for
their government. The use of body cameras may help prevent crimes committed by officers in
uniform, it may have even prevented the crime discussed. Additionally, further investigation of
the evidence shown should have been made. The night of December 6 was a night of tragedy, not
only for the woman whom was raped, but also for our trust in the justice system and those who
help enforce our laws.
Reference

Eligon, J. (2011, May 26). Two New York City Police Officers Acquitted of Rape. The
New York Times. Retrieved December 1, 2014, from
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/nyregion/two-new-york-city-police-officersacquitted-of-rape.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

NYPD officers accused of raping drunk woman. (2009, April 28). NBC News. Retrieved
December 1, 2014, from http://www.nbcnews.com/id/30459730/ns/us_newscrime_and_courts/t/nypd-officers-accused-raping-drunk-woman/#.VHTH_8kWbKc

Statistics | Rape Treatment Center. (1990, January 1). Retrieved December 1, 2014, from
http://www.911rape.org/facts-quotes/statistics

NYPD COMPSTAT 9TH PRECINCT. (2014, November 17). Retrieved December 1,
2014, from http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs009pct.pdf

Morabito, A. (2013, October 8). 'SVU' episodes mirror 'rape cops' case. New York Post.
Retrieved December 1, 2014, from http://nypost.com/2013/10/08/svu-episodes-mirrorrape-cops-case/