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.
Legalizing the production and distribution of marijuana in California could cut the price of the drug by as much as 80 percent and increase consumption. While the state has estimated taxing legal marijuana could raise more than $1 billion in revenue, this could be dramatically higher or lower based on a number of factors.
This report describes a method for modeling an emergency response system; identifying how individual parts of the system might fail; and assessing the likelihood of each failure and the severity of its effects on the overall response effort.
Documents the implementation of 15 programs across the country that provide interventions for families in which children have been exposed to violence, with the goal of building knowledge about the effectiveness of specific intervention strategies.
The lessons identified in this report pertain to the issues for a correctional facility to take into account when considering whether to deploy an active radio-frequency identification (RFID) system within the institution.
Researchers assessing a disaster case management pilot recommend that future efforts establish better ways to find affected residents, consider needs/vulnerabilities in planning, and ensure continuity of services before, during, and after disaster.
In 2006, more than 6 million individuals were victimized by violent crimes. The extent of violence and its impact highlight a critical need to develop and implement effective programs to reduce violence and victimization, and to conduct critical evaluations to inform other violence-reduction programs.
In testimony presented before the House Homeland Security Committee, Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment, Brian Michael Jenkins asserts that applying the law can counter the individualistic quality of radicalization and recruitment to jihadist terrorism in the United States.
Effective intelligence gathering and a Muslim community unsympathetic to calls to violence have discouraged homegrown jihadist terrorism in the U.S. While there was a spike in domestic terrorism in 2009, the perpetrators were mostly individuals who recruited themselves into the role of terrorists.
Describes a web-based mapping tool to help healthcare decisionmakers identify neighborhood-level ''hotspots'' of suboptimal health or healthcare that may be due to low health literacy.
Encouraging state and local law enforcement agencies to help enforce federal immigration laws could help identify out-of-status immigrants eligible for deportation, but these efforts come with concerns about the potential for racial profiling, strained community relations, and improper resource allocation.
Considers proposals to augment the existing flood-damage protection system in New Orleans with ''nonstructural'' risk mitigation programs focused on single-family homes.
In testimony presented before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Subcommittee on Domestic Policy, Rosalie Liccardo Pacula speaks to the scientific evidence underlying drug policy initiatives in the FY2011 budget—including treatment, prevention, and enforcement strategies.
This report describes the current policy context for domestic all-hazards risk-informed capabilities-based planning by local military and civilian authorities and provides a framework for a local planning support tool for their use.
Existing high-quality research on the costs of crime and the effectiveness of police—often buried in journals targeted to academics rather than policymakers—demonstrates that public investment in police can generate substantial social returns.
What is the role of government in a borderless internet world? RAND Europe assesses the implications for policy makers.
Is prison a training ground for extremists? RAND Europe explores radicalisation and recruitment in European prisons.
Describes how the British Government's narrower focus of problem drug use on most significant harms may be useful, but carries risks and drawbacks. We find the UK Drug Strategy draws on robust evidence for drug treatment and drug-related crime.
Based on literature, expert insights, and a conceptual framework, this study identifies a number of recommendations for improving the understanding of illicit drug markets, supply reduction efforts, and drug-related crime in the EU.
In testimony presented before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, James Dobbins discusses the current international disaster relief operation in Haiti and how it is affected by a preexisting post-conflict reconstruction mission, which he considers ultimately more important.
The Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act funds programs that have been proven effective in curbing crime among juvenile probationers and young at-risk offenders. This report summarizes outcome measures from each of the programs for fiscal year 2007-2008.
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