Community policing is an approach to policing that goes beyond responding to emergency calls and incorporates the needs of specific communities into the entire fabric of the police force. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has made changes at the level of training to proactively create a more professional and community-oriented police culture. In order to accommodate the specific training needs of their student population, and in accordance with the literature on adult learning, the LAPD Academy has moved away from a traditional lecture-based training model and toward a more scenario-based training model. This qualitative study documents Field Training Officers' (FTOs') supervisory observations of the community policing skills of recent graduates (i.e., probationary officers, P1s) of the LAPD Academy. FTOs were interviewed about how well the LAPD Academy prepared probationary officers in the area of community policing. Using content analysis, this study examines and reports themes found in responses to questions about probationary officers' performance in the area of human relations and cultural diversity. This study found that most FTOs are pleased with their P1s' competencies in the area of community policing. Some of the major themes indicating positive performance included feedback that the P1 was a good communicator, kind, and respectful in their dealings with civilians. Of the few comments indicating need for improvement, some FTOs felt that their P1s could improve in their ability to relate to and communicate with civilians and their ability to adapt to various situations. Results of this study will be used to provide information on the use of qualitative measures to evaluate community policing skills. By evaluating P1s using qualitative means, this study elicited and provides valuable, nuanced information about the training and preparedness of P1s and could therefore add meaningful information to the practice of quantitative assessments of P1 performance already in use by the LAPD Academy and beyond. This study also considers the possible implications of using FTOs' qualitative evaluations of P1s to uncover areas needing more attention (i.e. "blind spots," biases) with regard to the FTOs' own understandings of community policing and other areas relevant to today's police training competencies. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]