Teaching Case: SQL as a Tool for Civic Crime Analysis

This case study engages students in the practice of civic data analysis by applying SQL to the Los Angeles Police Department's open crime datasets, covering the period from 2010 to the present.Participants step into the role of city analysts responsible for examining crime distribution, temporal rhythms, enforcement outcomes, and neighborhood variations.Through structured exercises, learners gain hands-on experience with SQL operations, including table creation, data cleaning, aggregation, and spatial joins.The project emphasizes how database queries can reveal actionable insights for policy discussions on public safety, community partnerships, and policing strategies.In doing so, students strengthen both their technical fluency in SQL and their ability to interpret real-world public data in a critical, applied context.