Research

In the fall of 2016, we launched a collaborative effort to study law enforcement staffing for the National Park Service. As part of this research, this report aims to illustrate for park law enforcement leadership how data and analysis can inform deployment and strategy. Primary topics covered include crime analysis, traffic accident analysis, call for service data, work schedules, problem-oriented policing, and program evaluation.

This report summarizes the lessons we developed as part of an assessment of law enforcement in the National Park Service. It examines the staffing landscape and what rangers do, key management issues, as well as various approaches to determining staffing levels. Importantly, it offers a new data-driven approach to ranger staffing that integrates principles of operational risk management.

Based on a national assessment of law enforcement provision in the National Park Service, this guide illustrates a data-driven approach for estimating the appropriate number of rangers that should be assigned to a park to meet strategic objectives and conform to the principles of operational risk management.

As part of a national assessment of law enforcement provision in the National Park Service (NPS), this report summarizes an examination of personnel and workload for the Investigative Services Branch (ISB) and the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). ISB provides investigative services for offenses committed at NPS sites whereas OPR investigates complaints against NPS personnel.