ASA, Police Data Initiative Launch Challenge for Statistics Students

The ASA’s public education campaign, ThisIsStatistics, in collaboration with the Police Data Initiative, launched the Police Data Challenge—a national contest for high-school and undergraduate students to put their statistical and data visualization skills to work creating safer communities.

“The more we can demonstrate how statistics can be applied to matters that affect daily life and communities in which we live, the more excited students are to learn statistical and data analysis skills,” said ASA Executive Director Ron Wasserstein. “High-school and undergraduate students have long expressed a desire to create positive change, and the Police Data Challenge is a creative platform for them to apply what they are learning to a critical issue that has experienced increased attention from a variety of constituencies in recent years.”

Data sets from metropolitan police departments in Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Seattle are available for participants to peruse in formulating analyses and recommending innovative solutions to enhance public safety. Teams of 2–5 high-school or college undergraduate students in the US and Canada can submit an entry. Submissions will require a short essay describing the team’s process and a presentation of their analysis and recommendations via PowerPoint.

Awards will be given in the categories of Best Overall Analysis, Best Visualization, and Best Use of External Data.

Submissions are due by Friday, November 3.