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
An infographic presents findings from RAND's Cost of Crime Calculator — the new tool, by quantifying the tangible and intangible costs of crime, can help cities decide how best to invest their crime-control dollars.
An analysis of the outcomes for murder defendants who were represented either by public defenders or by appointed private counsel in Philadelphia raises important questions about the adequacy and fairness of
the criminal justice system.
Marijuana legalization will be on the ballot in at least two U.S. states in November 2012, and it is the subject of serious debate in a growing number of countries. When it comes to understanding the consequences of legalization, the devil is in the details of how the regulatory regime is designed.
Police agencies have historically measured their performance against a restricted set of crime-focused indicators, but law enforcement duties are changing. Well-developed performance measurement approaches can capture the complexity of modern policing and identify best practices.
Police workforce readiness requires careful and consistent personnel development to ensure that needed skills and knowledge are recognized, appropriately utilized, and fostered. A RAND methodology developed for the U.S. Air Force may be applicable to law enforcement agencies, too.
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.
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