This article presents findings from a case study examining youth perceptions of the police in rural areas of Eastern Canada. A total of 20 semistructured focus group discussions were conducted with 60 youth from Canadian rural Atlantic areas, who were purposively recruited, with groups stratified by age and gender. Discussions centered on role tension regarding the police’s role, that is, along a continuum between law enforcement and public protection versus community policing and crime prevention. Our discussions highlight the arguably ironic view that it is harder to maintain trust when there are strong personal relations with the police. Discussions highlight the ‘pros and cons’ of informal familiarity with police officers, especially the presence of school resource officers and policing in the context of monitoring youth on modes of transportation germane to rural Atlantic Canada (i.e. skidoos). Implications from this study suggest that when dealing with youth, identifying and addressing youth perceptions of the police role can help improve police–youth interactions.

中文翻译：

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加拿大农村青年和警察的角色压力：“在小镇上很难”

本文介绍了一项案例研究的结果，该研究调查了加拿大东部农村地区青年对警察的看法。共有 20 次半结构化的焦点小组讨论与来自加拿大大西洋农村地区的 60 名年轻人进行了讨论，这些年轻人是有目的地招募的，小组按年龄和性别分层。讨论集中在关于警察角色的角色紧张上，即执法和公共保护与社区警务和犯罪预防之间的连续统一体。我们的讨论强调了一种可以说具有讽刺意味的观点，即当与警方有牢固的个人关系时，就更难维持信任。讨论强调了与警察非正式熟悉的“利弊”，尤其是学校资源官员和警务人员的存在，以监测与加拿大大西洋农村地区（即skidoos）密切相关的交通方式。这项研究的意义表明，在与青年打交道时，确定并解决青年对警察角色的看法可以帮助改善警察与青年的互动。