{"id":{"repo_id":"wku-diss","oai_identifier":"oai:digitalcommons.wku.edu:theses-1590"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/wku-diss/oai:digitalcommons.wku.edu:theses-1590","repository":{"repo_id":"wku-diss","name":"Western Kentucky University","base_url":"https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"The Citizen Police Academy: Assessment of a Program's Effects on Community and Officer Attitudes","abstract":"The study was conducted in order to determine the effects of the Citizen Police Academy (CPA) program on community and officer attitudes. The two main goals of this program are to increase officer awareness of community concerns and to raise community awareness about the police department. Surveys were distributed to three groups: employees of the Bowling Green Police Department, all alumni of the CPA, and a random sample of the local community. Participants were asked their attitudes regarding crime prevention, awareness of police officers' activities, and the effectiveness of the CPA program. T-tests and ANOVAs determined that police officers who had participated with the CPA did not express significantly more support for the CPA program than did those who had not participated with the program. Community members rated officer awareness of community concerns lower than did the officers themselves. Finally, alumni were able to identify obscure programs discussed by the CPA significantly more often than were community members. Results of this assessment seem to indicate that the CPA is successfully meeting its goal of increasing community awareness about the police department. Use of these results for improving the program are discussed.","abstract_html":"The study was conducted in order to determine the effects of the Citizen Police Academy (CPA) program on community and officer attitudes. The two main goals of this program are to increase officer awareness of community concerns and to raise community awareness about the police department. Surveys were distributed to three groups: employees of the Bowling Green Police Department, all alumni of the CPA, and a random sample of the local community. Participants were asked their attitudes regarding crime prevention, awareness of police officers' activities, and the effectiveness of the CPA program. T-tests and ANOVAs determined that police officers who had participated with the CPA did not express significantly more support for the CPA program than did those who had not participated with the program. Community members rated officer awareness of community concerns lower than did the officers themselves. Finally, alumni were able to identify obscure programs discussed by the CPA significantly more often than were community members. Results of this assessment seem to indicate that the CPA is successfully meeting its goal of increasing community awareness about the police department. Use of these results for improving the program are discussed.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Cook, Shannon"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts in Industrial and Organizational Psychology","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Department of Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2003,"date_issued":"2003-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2003-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:07:35Z","subjects":["Criminology and Criminal Justice","Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/587","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Cook, Shannon"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Department of Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts in Industrial and Organizational Psychology"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Criminology and Criminal Justice","Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/587"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The study was conducted in order to determine the effects of the Citizen Police Academy (CPA) program on community and officer attitudes. The two main goals of this program are to increase officer awareness of community concerns and to raise community awareness about the police department. Surveys were distributed to three groups: employees of the Bowling Green Police Department, all alumni of the CPA, and a random sample of the local community. Participants were asked their attitudes regarding crime prevention, awareness of police officers' activities, and the effectiveness of the CPA program. T-tests and ANOVAs determined that police officers who had participated with the CPA did not express significantly more support for the CPA program than did those who had not participated with the program. Community members rated officer awareness of community concerns lower than did the officers themselves. Finally, alumni were able to identify obscure programs discussed by the CPA significantly more often than were community members. Results of this assessment seem to indicate that the CPA is successfully meeting its goal of increasing community awareness about the police department. Use of these results for improving the program are discussed."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Citizen Police Academy: Assessment of a Program's Effects on Community and Officer Attitudes"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Cook, Shannon"],"dc:description.abstract":["The study was conducted in order to determine the effects of the Citizen Police Academy (CPA) program on community and officer attitudes. The two main goals of this program are to increase officer awareness of community concerns and to raise community awareness about the police department. Surveys were distributed to three groups: employees of the Bowling Green Police Department, all alumni of the CPA, and a random sample of the local community. Participants were asked their attitudes regarding crime prevention, awareness of police officers' activities, and the effectiveness of the CPA program. T-tests and ANOVAs determined that police officers who had participated with the CPA did not express significantly more support for the CPA program than did those who had not participated with the program. Community members rated officer awareness of community concerns lower than did the officers themselves. Finally, alumni were able to identify obscure programs discussed by the CPA significantly more often than were community members. Results of this assessment seem to indicate that the CPA is successfully meeting its goal of increasing community awareness about the police department. Use of these results for improving the program are discussed."],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/587"],"dc:subject":["Criminology and Criminal Justice","Psychology"],"dc:title":["The Citizen Police Academy: Assessment of a Program's Effects on Community and Officer Attitudes"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Department of Psychology"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts in Industrial and Organizational Psychology"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:07:35Z"}