tics, all of which help the police and other crime-fighting agencies to better under-
stand crime and how it works. But the statistics don’t stop there: There are also statis-
tics about law enforcement officers, campus law enforcement agencies, and crime
labs; a census of law enforcement training academies; and even statistics about the
courts and criminal sentencing.
There are also other places to find such statistics. For example, the Federal
Bureau of Investigation offers statistical reports, such as the Uniform Crime Reports
(UCR), a program started in 1929 that collects information about crimes reported to
the police. But in the late 1980s, in response to law enforcement’s need for more flexi-
ble, in-depth data, the UCR Program evolved into the National Incident-Based Report-
ing System (NIBRS). This more complete system collects detailed statistical data on
each reported crime incident and is used by law enforcement, researchers, govern-
mental planners, criminal justice students, and the general public.Is mathever used to solve crimes?
Yes, certain types of mathematics are often used to solve crimes. For example, police
officers and crime scene experts use geometry to determine the conditions behind the
crime. Angles come in handy to determine from what direction a drop of blood origi-
nated, determine where a car was coming from when it struck another car, or to oth-
erwise reconstruct a crime scene. Length measurements can be used to determine the
stride and shoe size of a robber from the person’s footprints. Some higher math comes
in handy to see how fast a car was traveling as it slammed on its brakes—a task solved
by measuring skid marks. At murder scenes, forensic personnel can measure the
splatter pattern of bloodstains on a wall to determine where the murdered person was
standing; or even measure the size and angle of a bullet wound to determine the dis-
394 tance from, and position of, the murdered person to the murderer.
How do clinical trials use mathematics?
C
linical trials are used to determine whether a new drug or treatment is safe
and effective for the general public. In particular, there are several phases to
reach a positive or negative conclusion about the drug or treatment: Phase I
takes between 20 and 80 patients and determines the safety, dosage range, or
side effects; phase II tests the drug or treatment on a larger group (usually
around 100 to 300 people); phase III tests an even larger group of between 1,000
to 3,000 people; and phase IV takes place after the drug or treatment has been
marketed and is in use. Overall, each phase has a mathematical theme, each
using statistics to determine the possible positive and negative effects of the
drug or treatment.