About the Safety and Justice Program
The RAND Safety and Justice Program conducts research on topics related to public safety and the performance of the U.S. criminal justice system for federal law enforcement and other agencies, urban police departments, and other clients. Policy and research areas include policing, law enforcement, and corrections; crime, gangs, and violence prevention; drug abuse and drug policy; administration of justice, law, courts, and governance; and occupational and transportation safety.
Featured Research: California's Prisons
With the health care safety net in California under stress from the state's continuing financial crisis, jurisdictions across the state face unprecedented challenges caring for the health and social service needs of people released from state prisons.
At this January 2012 Policy Forum, experts discuss the public health implications of a U.S. Supreme Court order to reduce the prison population by more than 30,000.
Selected News and Publications
The Dallas Police Department received a $5 million grant in 2006 to install laptops and video recorders in patrol cars and thus modernize its operations. RAND evaluated the initiative and found it to be generally successful, despite some implementation problems.
A $10 million grant in 2006 enabled the Dallas Police Department to establish the Caruth Police Institute to provide staff development and leadership training to officers at all stages of their careers. RAND evaluated the CPI's first course and found it to be largely successful, with some caveats.
Public defenders assigned to indigent Philadelphia murder defendants are vastly more effective than court-appointed private attorneys at reducing conviction rates, the likelihood of a life sentence, and overall prison time, raising important questions about the adequacy and fairness of the criminal justice system.
At a time when government finances are stretched there is growing interest in finding new ways to fund public services. In 2010 the first ever Social Impact Bond was launched in the UK to provide investors who had funded government interventions for imprisoned offenders with a portion of the resultant savings.
A public safety message aimed at improving gun law awareness was found to have an effect on new gun buyers' behaviors, particularly in regards to reports of stolen guns, which more than doubled as a result.
Law enforcement agencies in areas where terrorist threats are considered to be high have expanded their focus beyond traditional crime prevention and investigation to include counterterrorism and homeland security operations.
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