Résumé
"In 1977 in the United Kingdom a program later known as the Citizens' Police Academy (CPA) was designed and implemented by the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary (Jordan, 2000). The Devon and Cornwall Constabulary used it to share knowledge of their organization with selected citizens. In Jordan's view, the Citizens' Police Academy is an excellent format for creating informed citizens able to enter into more balanced partnerships with the police. ... The apparent success of the U.K. program led to it being embraced by police services in North America starting in 1985 (Schafer & Bonello, 2001). In September of 2002 the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) initiated its' own Citizens' Police Academy in support of community policing (Derbyshire, Lai & Tracy, 2003). Several authors (Bumphus, Gaines & Blakely, 1999; Jordan, 2000; Schafer &Bonello, 2001) have noted that there have been very few comprehensive evaluations of Citizen Police Academies. Bumphus, Gaines and Blakely (1999) found that the stated primary goals of CPA are public education, promotion of positive relations with citizen groups, and enhancement of public appreciation for police functions; yet the curriculum is focused upon describing various components of the police agency and " ... a number of CPA's do not specify if their curriculum addresses ways for citizens to help lower crime rates ... " (p. 71 ). In this study I chose to explore the concerns of the Edmonton Police Service with regard to their Citizens' Police Academy through the following question: How does the Citizens Police Academy encourage cooperation and communication between the Edmonton Police Service and citizens of Edmonton as judged by the goals outlined for it by the Edmonton Police Service?"--Page 10.