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Citizen Police Academies: Observing Goals, Objectives, and Recent Trends

NCJ Number
181562
Journal
American Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 24 Issue: 1 Dated: Fall 1999 Pages: 67-79
Author(s)
Vic W. Bumphus; Larry K. Gaines; Curt R. Blakely
Date Published
1999
Length
13 pages
Annotation
A survey of 735 sheriff's departments and municipal police agencies across the country collected information on the role of Citizen Police Academies (CPA) in community policing.
Abstract
A variety of law enforcement agencies are adopting the idea of a CPA at a phenomenal rate. Administrators assume that the CPA is an effective technique for interacting with community members. The present research used a stratified random sample and questionnaires mailed in February 1997. Responses came from 376 agencies within 7 weeks of the initial mailing. A follow-up telephone survey collected information from 62 randomly chosen agencies that did not respond to the initial mailing; only 3 of these agencies reported that they had a CPA. Overall, 199 of the 438 responding agencies had a CPA. Most agencies operating a CPA are municipal police agencies. CPAs existed in agencies of different sizes and types. Community policing appeared to have a central role in the creation of these new initiatives. Some CPAs focus on portraying the police mainly as crime fighters; others focus more on routine law enforcement activities. Future research should explore these themes and several other issues to determine whether these new structures enhance the quality of police-citizen interactions and facilitate increased perceptions of safety or whether the CPA is simply window dressing to enhance the police image. Tables and 26 references