The chicken or the egg? The relationship between COP funding and COP research

We investigate the stability of community oriented policing (COP) as a mainstay of police research within the context of fluctuations in federal funding between 1995 and 2007. Using time-series analyses, we found an increase in the proportion of COP publications before funding suggesting the popularity of COP may have been one contribution to the perceived need for research funding. COP publications began to decline in 2005, corresponding to the earlier declining trend in funding. Policymakers may be using research to inform program-related funding decisions, but researcher interest in COP appears less tied to funding.