Using Digital Data in Criminal Investigations: Where and How to Draw the Line?
Personal devices such as smartphones and wearables gather and store personal data. How much of this "digital footprint" should be available for criminal investigations?
May 15, 2017 Forensic Magazine
What Data Is the Government Keeping About You?
Governments are amassing a wealth of data on citizens, a trend that will continue as technology advances. But with no reliable way to ensure that the data is accurate, risks abound. In the criminal justice system, for example, poor quality data could affect individual freedoms and employability.
Mar 1, 2017 Inside Sources
Does the Court System Know as Much About Electronically Stored Information as Your Teenager? It Should.
Electronically stored information from smart appliances, fitness trackers, and other devices is making its way into the U.S. court system. Judges and lawyers need to better understand this evidence so they can challenge it or rule on its admissibility in court.
Feb 21, 2017 TechCrunch
No Company Should Be Able to Keep You from Checking Your Government's Math
Data and computer models are becoming more and more important for making policy decisions on everything from prison sentences to tax bills. But citizens should be able to “check the math” on decisions that affect them.
Jan 18, 2017 Inside Sources
To Serve and Collect? Police Department Funding, Effectiveness, and Legitimacy
Like so many issues in public policy, one of the factors shaping the complex policing challenges facing America—and a potential lever to help address them—is simple and unsurprising. That factor is money.
Mar 16, 2015 Newsweek
An Enduring Need for Better Measures of Emergency Preparedness
In an era of fiscal austerity, the need for measurement and assessment becomes manifold. Tied to good government goals and responsible stewardship of public funds, measurements are also necessary to educate the public about what it should—and should not—reasonably expect when disaster strikes.
Jun 25, 2014 The RAND Blog
Needed: Sustainable Spying Oversight
Domestic intelligence in the United States is an activity with a history, and efforts to consider future policy on this issue need to take that history into account, writes Brian Jackson. Public acceptability must be part of the calculus in devising oversight and control of intelligence efforts.
Sep 18, 2013 U.S. News & World Report
Firearms and Gun Control: Many Questions, Some Answers
President Obama's task force on gun violence has raised the stakes in the policy debate on gun control and policy in the wake of the recent shootings in Colorado and Connecticut. Some of RAND's top researchers share what is, and what isn't, known about firearms and gun control.
Jan 17, 2013 The RAND Blog
Short-Term Savings, Long-Term Losses: When Police Departments Respond to Economic Pressure by Cutting Their Forces
Many police departments around the United States have faced budget cuts recently. Ultimately, say Paul Heaton and Brian Jackson, for police services, as with most other things, you get what you pay for.
Nov 12, 2012 The RAND Blog
The Olympics and Terrorism: Why the Games Remain an Appealing Target
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.
Jul 25, 2012 The RAND Blog
Katrina Proved We Must Do Better Job of Protecting Our Protectors
Katrina Proved We Must Do Better Job of Protecting Our Protectors, in the Clarion-Ledger
Aug 13, 2007 Clarion-Ledger
Is America Prepared for Disaster?
Is America Prepared for Disaster?, in Washingtonpost.com.
May 30, 2007 Washingtonpost.com