Assignment: LASA: A Bloody Sunday in Brentwood

Here's What Happened . . .

The chief of police in Centervale is becoming more concerned with victims' rights. He worries that law enforcement officers do not have enough real-world opportunities to review cases of victimology. As practice, you and your fellow officers have been asked to evaluate the Nicole Simpson case from the time she first reported intimate violence by O. J. Simpson to the time of her death.

Assess from a victimology standpoint and under the assumption that O. J. Simpson was the perpetrator of the murder.

Here's What You Need to Do . . .

Using APA-formatted in-text citations and external sources that are referred to on a corresponding reference page, prepare a report on the Simpson case, evaluate what resources could have been used to prevent the murder, and then suggest improvements. Your report should include the following:

• In the recent decades, we have seen stalking laws, as well as intimate partner-violence laws, undergo vast improvements due to more awareness and education for those who make, enforce, and interpret laws. Make a flowchart that identifies these critical stages in the laws for stalking and intimate violence.

• Research the laws, policies and procedures, and operational techniques pertaining to victims' rights and victim protection. Compare and contrast your research with the processes found in the Simpson case. What can you recommend to law enforcement officers to prevent similar results in future cases?

• Analyze and interpret statistical data using basic research methods. Illustrate any correlations between stalking, intimate violence, and homicide. How can you compare your findings with the facts of the Simpson case?

• Apply the victimology or criminology theory, or theories that best fits this case. Express your reasoning for your comparison of comparison of the victimology v. criminological theory.

• Research lethality or danger assessments used by law enforcement agencies and victim advocacy centers. Describe what the assessments are used for. What facts can you select to show the lethality signs that were present before Nicole's murder? Create your own lethality or danger assessment containing at least five questions that you feel would be the most relevant questions to ask a victim in a dangerous intimate relationship in order to assist in determining the threat level of the partner. Describe your reasoning in your concluding remarks.