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Police-Community Relations

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Communities rely on police departments to "protect and serve" and the police, in turn, rely on community support and cooperation, but the relationship is not always harmonious. RAND researchers have examined the relationships between law enforcement agencies and their communities in several countries.

Essay
Hackathon Focuses on Making Policing More Equitable
Hackathons bring new ideas and perspectives to hard policy problems and introduce college students to the field of policy analysis. The latest hackathon, hosted by Pardee RAND and RAND NextGen, explored ways to make the criminal justice system more equitable and more effective.
Jan 9, 2023
Report
Better Data Collection Could Support Efforts to Reduce Deaths in Police Custody
No national data collection program describes all deaths that occur in law enforcement custody. These data are critical to support strategies to reduce such fatalities, to promote public safety through appropriate police responses, and to build trust with communities.
Oct 11, 2022

Explore Police-Community Relations

Research Brief
Forecasting Crime for Law Enforcement
Predictive policing is the use of analytical techniques to prevent crime or solve past crimes. An assessment of some of the most promising technical tools and tactical approaches offers recommendations for police and developers.
Oct 14, 2013
Report
The Role of Crime Forecasting in Law Enforcement Operations
Predictive policing methods fall into four general categories: methods for predicting crimes, predicting offenders, predicting perpetrators' identities, and predicting victims of crime. These methods are not equivalent to a crystal ball, but they can enhance proactive policing and improve intervention strategies.
Sep 25, 2013
News Release
Greater Transparency, Accountability Key to Improving Effectiveness of Israel Police
An approach to policing known as “procedural justice,” emphasizing transparency and accountability, would help Israel's national police meet current and emerging challenges. The force needs to address issues of civil-police relations, benchmarking, performance measurement, and deterrence.
Jul 1, 2013
Report
How Can Police Departments Use Lessons Learned by the Military to Develop a Diverse Workforce?
Lessons from the military can be used to inform police personnel management who are concerned about recruiting and promoting a racially/ethnically diverse workforce: qualified minority candidates are available, career paths impact diversity, and departments should leverage organizational commitment to diversity.
Dec 10, 2012
Project
Center for Quality Policing
The RAND Center for Quality Policing provides research and analysis on contemporary police practice and policy. The Center's work helps law enforcement agencies across the U.S. make better operational decisions and consistently perform at their best.
Sep 5, 2012
Report
Identifying Barriers to Diversity in Law Enforcement Agencies
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.
Jul 26, 2012
Report
Selected International Best Practices in Police Performance Measurement
Police officers take on a variety of roles, and performance measures should capture this complexity. This report describes key considerations in designing police performance measures and includes a detailed review of international best practices.
May 7, 2012
Report
Insights from New Recruits Help Law Enforcement Departments Refine Hiring Practices
The results of a nationwide survey show how understanding modern recruits can help police and sheriff's departments refine their recruitment practices and develop a workforce well suited to community-oriented policing.
Oct 6, 2010
Report
Lessons on Police Recruitment and Retention for the New Millennium
Lessons on recruitment and retention can help police departments create a workforce that represents community demographics, is committed to providing its employees long-term police careers, and effectively implements community policing.
Dec 31, 2009
Report
Measuring the Performance of the Dallas Police Department: 2008-2009 Results
Describes the state of policing in Dallas, Texas, based on the results of four surveys carried out in 2008-2009.
Oct 15, 2009
Report
Cincinnati Police Department Traffic Stops: Analyzing Racial Disparities
RAND has developed a fair, yet rigorous approach to analyzing traffic stop data for racial bias. Based on five years of data from the Cincinnati Police Department, the approach addresses bias in the decision to stop, flags officers with disparate stop patterns, and assesses bias in search and citation rates.
Sep 25, 2009
Report
Doubly Robust Internal Benchmarking and False Discovery Rates for Detecting Racial Bias in Police Stops
Presents a statistical method to flag police officers who may potentially exhibit racial bias when making pedestrian stops.
Aug 19, 2009
Report
Police-Community Relations in Cincinnati: Year Four Evaluation Report
In 2002, the Cincinnati Police Department and the ACLU joined together to review police-community relations. This report finds that CPD is not the same as the department that policed Cincinnati in 2001. With crime reduced and no evidence of racial bias at traffic stops, there is still room for improvement with community relations.
Jan 16, 2009
Report
Police-Community Relations in Cincinnati: Year Three Evaluation Report
In 2002, the Cincinnati Police and the ACLU joined together to review police-community relations. This evaluation reports that three years out, blacks still experience a different kind of policing from that experienced by whites, and that vehicle stops provide an opportunity to redress these disparate impacts.
Dec 7, 2007
Commentary
Police Need to Do a Better Job of Explaining Stop-and-Frisk
Police stops of pedestrians and vehicles, while an important tool in police work, can fuel tensions if not handled properly. Law enforcement agencies must develop plans to address the disparities and tensions that result from their efforts, write K. Jack Riley and Greg Ridgeway.
Dec 6, 2007
News Release
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly Announces That the RAND Corporation Will Conduct an Assessment of How the New York ...
February 28, 2007 news release: Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly Announces That the RAND Corporation Will Conduct an Assessment of How the New York City Police Department Conducts Pedestrian Stops.
Feb 28, 2007
Research Brief
Efforts to Improve Police-Community Relations in Cincinnati
This research brief summarizes second-year findings. Although there is no evidence of systematic racial bias in Cincinnati Police Department vehicle stops, other police actions have racially disparate impacts that fuel perceptions of racial bias.
Feb 16, 2007
News Release
RAND Corporation Will Assess NYPD Firearms Training and Tactics and Firearms Discharge Review Procedures, and Examine ...
January 4, 2007 News Release: RAND Corporation Will Assess NYPD Firearms Training and Tactics and Firearms Discharge Review Procedures, and Examine Reflexive or 'Contagious' Shooting Issues.
Jan 4, 2007
Report
Assessing the Progress of Police-Community Relations in Cincinnati
The Cincinnati Police Department, Fraternal Order of Police, and American Civil Liberties Union pledged to collaborate in efforts to resolve social conflict, improve community relations and avoid litigation. RAND evaluated their progress in the second year of the agreement.
Dec 10, 2006
Report
Police-Community Relations in Cincinnati
In 2002, the Cincinnati Police Department, the Fraternal Order of Police, and the American Civil Liberties Union entered into a collaborative agreement. They contracted RAND to conduct required annual progress evaluations, of which this is the first.
Nov 30, 2005

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RAND Topic:
Police-Community Relations

Topic Synonyms:
Police-Neighborhood Relations

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Richard H. Donohue

Policy Researcher

Richard (Dic) Donohue is a policy researcher at RAND’s Boston office. His primary areas of research focus on homeland security and law enforcement issues, including training, police-community relations, and recruitment/retention. Donohue has led Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center…
Nelson Lim

Director, Workforce, Development, and Health Program, RAND Project AIR FORCE

Nelson Lim is director of the Workforce, Development, and Health (WDH) program in RAND Project AIR FORCE and a senior social scientist at the RAND Corporation. In 2022, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III appointed Lim a member of the Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion…

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