Date of Award

1-1-2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Specialization

Communication and Leadership

School or Department

School of Leadership Studies

First Advisor

Dr. Nobuya Inagaki

Second Advisor

Dr. Denise Casey

Abstract

Community perception of a police organization can directly affect the way individual officers perform their duties. The public, who supports a police department, will have more effective police officers. When officers are supported they wish to work harder for the community, they are proud of what they do and how they do it, and they want to protect those who protect them. The foundation of this support comes from the communication between the community, the media, police officers and the police organization as a whole. A new way of policing has been introduced to organizations across the country. This approach is community specific and it promotes effective communication strategies. Currently, there is no standard curriculum or guidelines directing community policing. Peace Officer Standards of Training (POST) is the government organization which provides curriculum and training standards which are state specific. The primary goal of this project is to create a curriculum for community policing. This curriculum is designed to be examined by POST to promote a standard curriculum and implementation strategy to guide police organizations in America. This project also incorporates the Communication Accommodation Theory as a tool to be used when officers contact members of the public. This tool teaches officers how to evaluate a subject within the first 15 seconds of the contact. Ideally, this will support effective communication with community members as officers converge. It will also give officers the option to diverge when speaking to a suspect. Community support is the key to a healthy officer and effective organization.

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