Evaluation of a Hispanic citizens’ police academy within a suburban police department

Local law enforcement authorities are dependent upon the communities they serve to report crime and provide information to advance their investigation efforts. Clearance rates have been steadily dropping for the past 60 years as community-police relations have eroded. One common approach to improving community-police relations has been for local departments to offer citizens’ police academies (CPAs) to familiarize residents with police operations in hopes of combatting misinformation and suspicion. Recognizing that language and cultural barriers exacerbate these challenges where the Hispanic community is concerned, departments have developed CPA’s specific to Hispanic residents. This first ever evaluation of a Hispanic citizen’s police academy (HCPA) provides details on the logistics and outcomes of one such program offered by a suburban police department in Georgia. Surveys of the participants and instructors rate the program to be informative and well organized and overall satisfaction levels were high across the board. Focus group session interviews show positive sentiments for the program structure, curriculum content, and level of engagement by both participants and instructors. Prospects and recommendations are provided to inform future community policing efforts.