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.
News Release
The U.S. Forest Service should upgrade its large airborne firefighting fleet to include more amphibious scooper aircraft, with air tankers and helicopters in a supporting role during the initial attack of fires before they become large.
Report
The U.S. Forest Service should upgrade its large airborne firefighting fleet to include more amphibious scooper aircraft, with air tankers and helicopters in a supporting role during the initial attack of fires before they become large.
Research Brief
This brief provides an overview of a RAND study to support the U.S. Forest Service in determining the composition of a fleet of airtankers, scoopers, and helicopters that would minimize the total social costs of wildfires.
Report
Law enforcement agencies can use barrier analysis, a method of assessment aimed at identifying potential obstacles to obtaining resources or participating in a program, to better understand and address the challenge of creating diversity among their personnel.
Commentary
While it is quite clear that attacking an event as internationally iconic as the Olympics would be attractive to modern terrorist groups with global aspirations, their ability to do so successfully and shift focus and attention from the competition and achievements of the Games to the terrorist groups' agendas is far less certain, writes Brian Jackson.
Report
This report sets out findings from a wide-ranging evaluation of Europol -- the European Police Office. It examines Europol's capabilities, legal basis and activities, highlighting potential areas for reform in the forthcoming Europol Regulation.
Multimedia
In this Resilient Communities podcast, we hear from Heather Schwartz, a policy researcher based in RAND's New Orleans office who studies the effects of integrating low- and middle-income families on the school experiences of children from low-income families.
Commentary
Someone who uses cocaine every other day or more often is probably cocaine dependent; someone who uses marijuana every other day or more often is probably not cannabis dependent. In this regard, marijuana resembles alcohol more than it does the "hard" drugs.
Journal Article
Trust contributes to community resilience by the critical influence it has on the community's responses to public health recommendations before, during, and after disasters.
Commentary
Given the recent spate of highly publicized disasters, why don't more Americans pay attention to the advice of public health officials? The messages they are getting are largely based on unverified assumptions, not hard evidence. Equally concerning, these assumptions may inadvertently hinder preparedness.
Multimedia
In this June 2012 Congressional Briefing, Lois Davis discusses the health care needs of prisoners who reenter the general population; the roles that health care providers, other social services, and family members play in successful reentry; and recommendations for improving access to care for this population in the current fiscal environment.
Past Event
Lois Davis discusses prisoner reentry—how health affects reentry into a community; the critical roles that health care providers, other social services, and family members play in successful reentry; and recommendations for improving access to care for this population in the current fiscal environment.
Report
This book provides a non-partisan primer on the topic of whether marijuana should be legalized, covering everything from the risks and benefits of using marijuana, to describing the current laws around the drug in the United States and abroad.
Commentary
The $15 co-pay a mother is expected to cover represents half of a full week's food costs under the U.S. Department of Agriculture's "thrifty" food plan for her 6-year-old, write Art Kellermann and Robin Weinick.
Commentary
Innovative approaches are needed to break the current stalemate of information sharing and to build a solid and reliable evidence base on the state of cyber-security, writes Neil Robinson.
Report
This document synthesizes the discussion from a roundtable symposium RAND convened in January 2012 to explore the practical difficulties facing companies in complying with anti-corruption mandates and the challenges of corruption in foreign markets.
Commentary
The numbers of suicides among military personnel is a reminder for us involved in prevention to remain vigilant and work even harder. Let it be a wake-up call to the nation to assume some of the responsibility as well, writes Rajeev Ramchand.
Commentary
Restricting cyberweapon development could be harmful inasmuch as its core activity is the discovery of vulnerabilities in software—the very activity also required to bulletproof software against attacks from criminal hackers, writes Martin Libicki.
Multimedia
Policy Researcher David Groves describes RAND's role in helping to develop a plan to guide Louisiana's coastal investments, help its coastal citizens plan for the future, and create a sustainable coast.
Journal Article
This study suggests four timely US actions to address today's competing realities of globalization and economic austerity: raise awareness among clinicians and local health departments; capture and share exemplary disaster management practices across countries; ensure that US global health investments are effective, efficient, and sustainable; and think globally while acting locally to enhance US health security.
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