Public Safety

RAND work on public safety issues ranges from policing and prisons to violent crime and the illegal drug trade, as well as homeland security and emergency preparedness. RAND delivers research that reflects our core values of quality and objectivity and helps inform policy debates that are often riddled with arguments driven not by evidence but by emotion and ideology.

Research conducted by: RAND Justice, Infrastructure, and Environment; RAND Europe; Safety and Justice Program; Center on Quality Policing; Center for Health and Safety in the Workplace; RAND Drug Policy Research Center

Featured at RAND

RAND Book Provides Critical Review of U.S. Actions Since 9/11; Recommends Future Anti-Terror Path

A new collection of essays by experts from the RAND Corporation examines America in the decade since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, focusing a critical eye on the nation's actions since the attacks and outlining changes in strategy needed to improve efforts against jihadist groups.

All Items (1493)

Commentary

The Day After: How Will the Boston Marathon Bombing Change the Way America Fights Terrorism? — Apr 18, 2013

A crew member from Station Boston conducts security zones in the Boston Harbor

The risk of overreaching in the name of homeland security is great. But the best and most likely outcome of this latest attack would be a measured security response built around Americans engaging anew in their own security, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.

Journal Article

Hervormingenvan Brandweer - En Reddingsdiensten in Europa: (Lighting the Touch Paper of Reform? Case Studies in Fire and Rescue Service Reform in Europe) — Apr 1, 2013

In the age of austerity, Fire and Rescue Services (FRS) provision is now the focus of policymakers' efficiency drives.

Journal Article

Human Subjects Protection and Research on Terrorism and Conflict — Apr 1, 2013

The authors discuss how current legal developments raise complications and may limit the ability of researchers to work on terrorism and conflict topics.

Journal Article

How Much Does "How Much" Matter? Assessing the Relationship Between Children's Lifetime Exposure to Violence and Trauma Symptoms, Behavior Problems, and Parenting Stress — Apr 1, 2013

The study explores whether and how lifetime violence exposure is related to a set of negative symptoms: child internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, child trauma symptoms, and parenting stress.

Commentary

Guns in Homes: A Health Hazard — Mar 25, 2013

gun in dresser drawer

An ample body of evidence indicates that the benefits of keeping a gun for protection are substantially outweighed by the associated risks, writes Art Kellermann.

Blog

When CPR Is the Wrong Call: Mistaking Medical Treatment for Care — Mar 14, 2013

CPR valve mask

If a medical treatment worked only a fraction of the time and resulted in bad outcomes more often than not, practitioners would not make this treatment the default approach. Yet that is exactly what has happened when it comes to CPR for individuals 85 years and older who suffer cardiac arrest in a community setting.

Commentary

Tuberculosis Outbreak in LA Reminds Us of Importance of 'Bread and Butter' Public Health Capabilities — Mar 12, 2013

Center for Domestic Preparedness Training

In this fiscally uncertain climate, we should continue to leverage the dual-use benefit of bioterrorism investments by building and maintaining those routine (but essential) public health capabilities that can also be used in response to a variety of public health emergencies.

Journal Article

Land-Use Zoning Shown to Affect Crime Rates in Los Angeles — Mar 5, 2013

Using zoning laws to shape the type of development and activity that occur in a neighborhood may be one way to reduce crime in urban areas. Single-use commercially zoned blocks in Los Angeles have crime rates that are 45 percent higher than similar blocks that include residential uses.

News Release

Land-Use Zoning Shown to Affect Crime Rates in Los Angeles — Mar 5, 2013

Using zoning laws to shape the type of development and activity that occur in a neighborhood may be one way to reduce crime in urban areas. Single-use commercially zoned blocks in Los Angeles have crime rates that are 45 percent higher than similar blocks that include residential uses.

Blog

RAND Is Helping Santa Monica Measure the City's Overall Well-being — Mar 1, 2013

RAND is helping its hometown of Santa Monica, Calif., become the first city in America to use a measurement of overall wellbeing to drive public policy.

Journal Article

Taming the Five Dragons? China Consolidates Its Maritime Law Enforcement Agencies — Mar 1, 2013

China's new leadership recently announced its intention to reorganize its separate maritime law enforcement agencies under one governing body.

Journal Article

The Challenges and Rewards of Engaging a Skeptical Public — Mar 1, 2013

The aim of this commentary is to discuss both the challenges and the rewards of engaging a public that wants to weigh evidence prior to taking action in an emergency, rather than defer to expert judgment.

Commentary

What Is an Act of Cyberwar? It's a Decision, Not a Conclusion — Feb 28, 2013

Perhaps making war can persuade the attacker to stop. Yet, war also risks further disruption, great cost, as well as possible destruction and death—especially if matters escalate beyond cyberspace, writes Martin Libicki.

Report

Physical and Psychological Health Following Military Sexual Assault: Recommendations for Care, Research, and Policy — Feb 27, 2013

This paper reviews data on the prevalence of sexual assault among servicemembers, predictors of disclosure, efforts to improve disclosure, victim needs, and DoD efforts to provide necessary resources in the immediate aftermath of a sexual assault.

Report

Capabilities-Based Planning Can Enhance Energy Security at DoD Installations — Feb 20, 2013

Energy security strategies are needed because DoD installations rely on the U.S. commercial electricity grid which is vulnerable to disruption from natural hazards and actor-induced outages, such as physical or cyber attacks.

Commentary

Drug Cartels an X-Factor for Obama, Peña Nieto — Feb 19, 2013

Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto and President Obama both face daunting domestic challenges and have ambitious domestic agendas, but both presidents are savvy politicians who realize that each will benefit from the other's success, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.

Report

Focus on the U.S. Gulf States: Committed to the Region and the Well-Being of Its Residents — Feb 15, 2013

The RAND Gulf States Policy Institute was established after Hurricane Katrina to inform policies for long-term recovery and economic development in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. This two-page flyer highlights some of its research.

Blog

The State of the Union 2013 — Feb 13, 2013

The 2013 SOTU address will be remembered for its impassioned call for greater gun control just two months after Sandy Hook. But President Obama's second-term agenda can be characterized by its sheer breadth, reflecting the broad range of policy challenges facing the U.S. today.

Research Brief

Addressing Coastal Vulnerabilities Through Comprehensive Planning: How RAND Supported the Development of Louisiana's Comprehensive Master Plan — Feb 12, 2013

The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana used a new analytic approach, developed in part by RAND, that incorporates results from predictive models in a decision tool to allow formulation and comparison of alternatives.

Past Event

Conference and Webcast on Public Health Regulations for Marijuana — Feb 11, 2013

ballot box with vote to legalize marijuana

Initiatives to legalize and regulate marijuana leave local, state, and federal policymakers facing new questions. To help leaders better understand the possible consequences, DPRC researchers moderated a forum in Washington, D.C., on February 11, 2013, about developing public health regulations for marijuana.

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