Science and politics in police research: Reflections on their tangled relationship

Police research in the United States has been heavily influenced by external politics. This influence is agenda-setting rather than truth-suppressing. Agenda-setting influence occurs where external political influence causes researchers to undertake research on a subject or subjects they had previously neglected. The influence of politics on research has, in some very important respects, greatly enriched social science research on the police, forcing scholars to confront subjects and methodological issues they had previously neglected. The relationship between police research and the external political environment is extremely complex and is by no means simple or one-directional. There are also some important examples, notably, community policing, of where research findings have influenced the political agenda.