To Protect and to Serve Wins Honorable Mention in the 2009 IACP/Sprint Excellence in Law Enforcement Research Awards

The International Association of Chiefs of Police sponsors the Excellence in Law Enforcement Research Award to recognize those who demonstrate excellence in initiating, collaborating on, and employing research to improve police operations and public safety.

To help the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) achieve its recruiting and diversity goals, RAND researchers offered ways to improve productivity and efficiency in the recruiting process. They identified potential untapped recruiting markets, provided a model of viable candidates to target recruitment and prioritize applicants while still reaching diversity hiring goals, and recommended ways to improve background-investigation processes.

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Policy Forum: L.A. Public Safety After Bratton

Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Bratton and RAND Safety and Justice Director Greg Ridgeway discussed the future of the Los Angeles Police Department after Bratton's departure, and the implications on public safety in Los Angeles.

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Cincinnati Police Department Traffic Stops: Analyzing Racial Disparities — Oct. 12, 2009

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.

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Reducing the Supply of Methamphetamine Precursors Does Not Reduce Meth-related Crime — Jul. 30, 2009

In 1995, the government attempted to reduce the supply of methamphetamine, or meth, precursors available in the marketplace. The intervention dramatically reduced methamphetamine use, adverse health outcomes, and arrests for drug possession and drug sale, but within 18 months all had returned to pre-intervention levels. Despite this temporary success, there is no evidence for large changes in meth-related crimes, with the exception of a possible increase in robberies.

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Understanding the Public Health Implications of Prisoner Reentry in California — Jun. 11, 2009

Inmates released from California prisons have a high need for drug treatment, health care and mental health services, but they face barriers to accessing such aid because many return to communities where health care services are severely strained.

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Substance Use Is Not the Primary Cause of Workplace Injuries, but Is a Contributing Factor — Jun. 8, 2009

Occupational injuries are a serious public-health issue and cause significant morbidity and mortality in the United States, with direct and indirect costs extending beyond injured workers to their families, other workers, firms, and consumers. This paper explores the link between substance use and work-related accidents.

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Understanding Forfeitures: An Analysis of the Relationship Between Law Enforcement Funding and High Asset Forfeiture — Mar. 27, 2009

The Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture (TEOAF) administers the forfeitures that result from the prosecution of criminal enterprises - such as drug cartels, terrorist organizations, and individual embezzlers - can be used to fund future investigations. TEOAF commissioned RAND to examine such funding and forfeiture outcomes.

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Organized Crime Is Increasingly Active in Film Piracy; Three Cases Link Terrorists to Piracy Profits — Mar. 3, 2009

Organized crime increasingly is involved in the piracy of feature films, with syndicates active along the entire supply chain from manufacture to street sales. While crime syndicates have added piracy to their criminal portfolios, the profits from film piracy also have been used on occasion to support the activities of terrorist groups.

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Report Quantifies Level of Disadvantage Faced by Boys and Men of Color in California — Feb. 5, 2009

The first multi-dimensional effort to quantify the disparities faced by African-American and Latino boys and men in California across a broad spectrum of health and social factors provides a disquieting outlook for their lives.

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Methamphetamine Use Estimated to Cost the U.S. About $23 Billion in 2005 — Feb. 4, 2009

The economic cost of methamphetamine use in the United States reached $23.4 billion in 2005, including the burden of addiction, premature death, drug treatment and many other aspects of the drug.

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Do Business Improvement Districts Reduce Crime? — Feb. 3, 2009

Business improvement districts (or BIDs) collect assessments and invest in such activities as place promotion, street cleaning, and public safety. This report examines BID activities and their impact on crime and youth violence in Los Angeles.

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Police-Community Relations in Cincinnati: Year Four Evaluation Report — Jan. 23, 2009

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.

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