Affiliation:
1. Criminal Justice Department, SUNY – Buffalo State, USA
2. SUNY – Buffalo State, USA
Abstract
This study explored the behavior of police administrators in the face of the pro-federalism environment of 2009. Using an institutional theory framework, specifically coercive isomorphism, this research sought to determine if the local political environment influences the behavior of local-level police administrators to access federal grants. Data were provided by the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office, supplemented with congressional records and public voting results for the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections. When county-level presidential voting results are used to operationalize the local environment, an equal number of Republican and Democrat police agencies received COPS grants. Findings suggest that crime and economic interest trump political ideology.