Crime and Justice

RAND Europe's research on crime and justice supports strategy and decisionmaking by public sector bodies, foundations, non-governmental organisations and specialist agencies in Member States and at the EU level. We work with those who are interested in understanding and reducing the harms from crime and violence. We do so through a range of approaches, including:

developing indicators and methods for measuring crime
mapping incidence of different types of crime
understanding the harms associated with criminal activity
informing strategic policy development
designing, implementing and evaluating interventions to reduce crime.

Our research teams are valued for their expertise in translating objective, rigorous analysis into practical advice and recommendations for policy. We do so by blending interdisciplinary approaches with quantitative and qualitative methods to understand, assess and evaluate the changing landscape of crime and justice phenomena and policy. We work with and draw upon the long-established expertise and international reach of the wider RAND Corporation.

Our expertise

RAND Europe has a substantial and growing portfolio of work in the field of crime and justice, for clients including the UK National Audit Office, the National Policing Improvement Agency and the European Commission. Our expertise includes:

Sentencing and interventions to reduce crime and reoffending
Drug classification, supply and substance abuse
Organised crime
Violent crime
Policing
Cost benefit and cost effectiveness in criminal justice
Mapping the incidence of crime
Human trafficking.

More »Current Projects

Assessing the Evidence Base of the New UK Drugs Strategy — 17 April 2009

The National Audit Office is conducting a value for money study on "Tackling Problem Drug Use", focusing in particular on local authorities' capacity and capability to effectively tackle problem drug use through the delivery of local services. RAND Europe has been commissioned by the NAO to undertake a review of the evidence base underpinning the new National Drugs Strategy. This Strategy advocated a combination of policy solutions including robust enforcement, targeted treatment programmes and community information campaigns. We are reviewing the evidence drawn upon in the Strategy, and identifying gaps in the literature and science around drug policy that remain to be addressed and which could help to inform future plans for addressing drug misuse.

More »Completed Research

EC Report Examines the World's Illicit Drugs Problem, Ten Years On — 10 March 2009

A study conducted by RAND Europe, RAND's Drug Policy Research Centre, and the Trimbos Institute assesses how the global market for illicit drugs has developed from 1998 to 2007, as well as the impact of worldwide policy measures - both at the national and sub-national levels - on the illicit drugs problem. The study finds that while the situation may have improved slightly in some of the world's richer countries, it has substantially worsened in others, which include a few large developing or transitional countries.

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Tackling Violent Crime: Findings from Regional Workshops — 08 May 2009

Much of the responsibility for delivering the Home Office Action Plan for Tackling Violence lies with local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs). The NAO commissioned RAND Europe to facilitate a series of practitioner workshops across England to explore barriers to local multi-agency working, which might hamper CDRPs' ability to reduce violent crime. The need for greater involvement and data sharing by health agencies - particularly accident and emergency departments - was prevalent, as was the importance of developing analytical capacity within CDRPs in order to better understand the nature of violence and effective practices for addressing crime and disorder.

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