Welcome to the RAND Center for Quality Policing

The RAND Center for Quality Policing (CQP) provides research and analysis to improve the practices, policies, and technologies used in policing. Our findings are of interest to police practitioners at all levels, law enforcement technology developers, and law enforcement policymakers and funders. CQP is part of the Justice Policy Program within RAND Social and Economic Well-Being.

Bulletins For Practitioners

• To reduce assaults on police officers and other violent escalations, officers with body-worn cameras need to notify persons they are being recorded as soon as contacts begin. Otherwise, notifications may escalate rather than de-escalate situations.
• We found promising practices to reduce violence in sporting and other major events.
• Using ambulance and other medical emergency data can substantially improve awareness of where violence is occurring, improving how anti-violence resources are assigned. We have published a guide to getting and using this data.
• We analyzed evidence on policing strategies and created guides to implementing the most promising strategies for reducing crime, holding offenders accountable, and improving community trust and legitimacy. We have also identified what not to do.

Bulletins For Technology Developers and Acquisition Personnel

• In support of the US National Institute of Justice, we have top needs for innovation for the law enforcement field.
• We have detailed concepts of operations, specifications, protections, and contracting items needed for police agencies to use the following technologies efficiently and effectively: video analytics and sensor fusion, social media and social networking analysis, information sharing, next-generation broadband networks, and Internet of Things devices.

Bulletins For Budgeters and Planners

• We created a calculator that predicts changes in crime levels based on changes in department size, using a finding that increasing police by 1% marginally reduces crime (on average, with much variation), by about 0.5%. The calculator also estimates changes in the economic costs of these crimes to society.
• We estimated how much responding to crimes costs police. We found that responding to a Part I violent crime costs, on average, about $11,000, and responding to a Part I property crime costs, on average, about $1,300.