Award-Winning Crime Analysis Graduate Brings Responsive Data Tools to Policing Career
As compliance and records officer with the Harvard University Police Department, BU MET Alumna Emily de Lalla pursued her Master of Criminal Justice with concentration in Crime Analysis to hone the analysis tools that would empower her to craft data-driven, intelligence-informed responses to crime.
After having graduated with the program’s Award for Excellence, she encourages those who follow in her footsteps to take full advantage of the abundant and rewarding opportunities at BU MET to engage with faculty, staff and fellow students.
Emily was able to put lessons she learned to work right away. While taking Applied Project in Crime Analysis (MET CJ 840), she capitalized on the opportunity the course presented to enhance the analytical capacity of her department at Harvard University, where she works in crime reporting and analysis.
She was able to directly link Harvard police data systems to the PowerBI dashboards she created in class. These interactive, real-time, dashboards covered many aspects of the departments’ operation, from showing maps and time-series graphs of calls-for-service to monitoring officer contacts with the public.
Read on to learn about Emily’s Metropolitan College journey.
Emily de LallaClery Compliance and Records Officer, Harvard University Police Department
MS in Criminal Justice, Crime Analysis Concentration (MET’23)
Recipient of 2023 Award for Excellence
What motivated you to earn your master’s degree at this point? What made Metropolitan College the place to fulfill your goal?
I was motivated to earn my degree at Metropolitan College to master a variety of analysis tools, including SPSS and mapping, so I would be better able to create data-driven and intelligence-led responses to crime.
Congratulations on your high achievement in the MS in Criminal Justice, Crime Analysis Concentration program and your Award for Excellence in your studies! Looking back, what do you consider to be the main ingredients of your success?
Thank you! I attribute my success in the MS in Criminal Justice program to the immense amount of engagement, support, and collaboration I experienced from the staff and faculty at BU MET.
How were you able to successfully balance your studies with your commitments outside the classroom?
BU MET’s evening courses and online curriculum helped me immensely because I was working full-time while pursuing the master’s degree.
Is there a particular course or project that enhanced your experience in the Criminal Justice program?
Absolutely! During my last semester, in spring 2023, I worked under the supervision and with the support of Dr. Shea Cronin to connect my police department’s records management system to an analytical software program that improved the timeliness, flexibility, and comprehensiveness of crime and workload analysis.
“I attribute my success in the MS in Criminal Justice program to the immense amount of engagement, support, and collaboration I experienced from the staff and faculty at BU MET.”
Can you share any examples of skills, principles, or practices learned in the program that you were concurrently able to apply to your job?
I am particularly excited to apply ArcGIS, a spatial analysis software, to visually represent crime patterns and more effectively implement proactive crime prevention strategies.
You were recognized by faculty and peers for your hard work and dedication to the Criminal Justice program. What “words of advice” or encouragement have served as a guiding principle, or simply inspiration, for you? Any words of wisdom you would like to pass along to students starting in the program?
If I could pass along any “words of advice” to students starting in the program, I’d recommend utilizing the support of staff and faculty. They have subject-matter expertise in a variety of fields, including policing, cybercrime investigation, research and policy, and forensics.
Also, I’d recommend taking as many opportunities as possible to collaborate and engage with fellow students at BU MET, both inside and outside the classroom.
Visit here to read more about BU MET’s Criminal Justice programs.