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 at all levels, law enforcement technology developers, law enforcement policymakers and funders, and the general public. CQP is part of the Justice Policy Program within RAND Social and Economic Well-Being.

COVID-19 and Policing

• We have identified lessons learned from police departments and other criminal justice agencies on dealing with COVID and similar incidents, as well as identified needs for innovation to better deal with pandemics going forward.
• By deliberately addressing misinformation, police officers can promote safe and healthy behaviors among those in their communities. The actions they take to combat misinformation and improve protections in their communities are a critical part of the collective campaign to end the pandemic and help people return to their normal lives.
• An increasing number of police officers and deputies have been exposed or tested positive for the coronavirus. Instead of relying on existing resources, gaps in personnel coverage could be filled by easing restrictions on the hiring of retired police officers.

Bulletins For Practitioners

• Research found substantial racial disparities in the percent of Virginia motorists convicted of a misdemeanor for excessive speeding as opposed to receiving an infraction. These were due to disparities in Virginia County and officer discretion, as well as the percent of Black motorists having counsel or appearing in person in court.
• We have studies on how to improve officer development, including at the academy and at Command College.
• We have tools that can help identify whether officers’ stops and other actions are genuinely racially biased, based on comparisons to what we would expect stops to look like if their actions were bias-free.
• Research found that school resources officers (SROs) were associated with less serious violence in schools, but also more serious disciplinary actions for students
• Under RAND's Gun Policy in America Initiative, we have new reviews of measures to address community gun violence and mass shootings.

Bulletins For Technology Developers and Acquisition Personnel

• We have new needs for innovation to help officers address major public safety problems today, including homelessness, technology facilitated abuse, and drug-impaired driving.
• We have created a framework for identifying and addressing systemic biases during the acquisition of machine learning decision-support tools, like predictive policing systems.
• New research identifies high-priority needs for law enforcement interactions with autonomous vehicles in the next five years.
• In support of the US National Institute of Justice, we have top needs for innovation for the law enforcement field, including a searchable database of over 1,000 needs for innovation.
• 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. We also have a tool that shows costs of responding to crime by type and state.
• We analyzed evidence on policing strategies and created guides on the most promising strategies for reducing crime, holding offenders accountable, and improving community trust and legitimacy. We have also identified what not to do.