Through the 1970's and 1980's, a large number of police officers from all parts of Canada as well as from several other countries have benefited by taking this course. Course changes during those years were quite minor. However, candidates for the course complained that they had previously studied the materials in SPAC in other management courses. Recently, staff members succeeded in overcoming their own reluctance to change SPAC. The new SPAC differs from the old in three major ways: (1) It provides more "hands on" opportunities for candidates to exercise certain basic leadership skills; (2) It gives them opportunities to learn how to change their style of policing in order to meet changing social conditions; and (3) It provides a series of connected opportunities for students to improve their problem solving skills.