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CALEA Accreditation
The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) began in 1979 to improve the delivery of law enforcement services by offering a body of standards, developed by law enforcement practitioners, covering a wide range of up-to-date law enforcement standards as an attempt to raise professionalism in law enforcement. The accreditation program is a voluntary program administered by CALEA.
The Alcoa Police Department (APD) was first awarded International Accreditation from CALEA on November 18, 2006 in Reno, Nevada.
APD was then reaccredited on:
The accreditation process involves a complete review of departmental standards every four years and, more importantly, compliance with those standards. This review is conducted by independent experts in the field of law enforcement who are brought in from all over the United States. The assessors also spend time interviewing employees, city leaders and riding with officers to ensure their understanding and knowledge of the CALEA process, and they also reach out to the community to see how well we live up to the spirit of the accreditation standards in the community.
Maintaining accreditation requires a serious commitment of energy from the members of the police department as well as the city administration, but brings with it many benefits. Some of these benefits include:
The CALEA accreditation program is a departmental-wide function, and is overseen by the Staff Services Sergeant, who serves as the agency Accreditation Manager. It is the responsibility of every member of the police department to complete their tasks in accordance with the department's policy. Various compliance reports are assigned to different supervisory personnel within the department. These reports include analysis, summaries and evaluations that must be done on a time-sensitive schedule. The accreditation manager ensures these reports are completed and then maintains the files of corresponding standards.
For more information visit the CALEA website
Alcoa Police Department Accreditation
The Alcoa Police Department (APD) was first awarded International Accreditation from CALEA on November 18, 2006 in Reno, Nevada.
Reaccreditation
APD was then reaccredited on:
- November 18, 2009 in Salt Lake City, Utah
- November 17, 2012 in Jacksonville Florida
- November 21, 2015 in Miami, Florida, awarded Accreditation - With Excellence
- November 18, 2019 in Covington, Kentucky, awarded Accreditation - With Excellence
Accreditation Process
The accreditation process involves a complete review of departmental standards every four years and, more importantly, compliance with those standards. This review is conducted by independent experts in the field of law enforcement who are brought in from all over the United States. The assessors also spend time interviewing employees, city leaders and riding with officers to ensure their understanding and knowledge of the CALEA process, and they also reach out to the community to see how well we live up to the spirit of the accreditation standards in the community.
Accreditation Benefits
Maintaining accreditation requires a serious commitment of energy from the members of the police department as well as the city administration, but brings with it many benefits. Some of these benefits include:
- Assures government leaders of law enforcement quality.
- Ensures a sense of well-being and safety in the hearts and minds of the community.
- Ensures that policies and procedures are solidly documented in writing.
- Facilitates a solid review of the agency's status and readiness.
- Gives agency the ability to analyze its delivery of services, measure its culpability, administer consistent discipline and insulate against civil litigation.
- Makes the jurisdiction more attractive to economic and community development.
- Provides assurance that the organization is trained and functioning in line with policies and procedures.
- Provides dollars and cents return on liability insurance coverage.
- Provides international recognition and a venue for employee pride and morale.
- Reinforces confidences that the agency is operating at an acceptable level of standards for the profession.
About the Program
The CALEA accreditation program is a departmental-wide function, and is overseen by the Staff Services Sergeant, who serves as the agency Accreditation Manager. It is the responsibility of every member of the police department to complete their tasks in accordance with the department's policy. Various compliance reports are assigned to different supervisory personnel within the department. These reports include analysis, summaries and evaluations that must be done on a time-sensitive schedule. The accreditation manager ensures these reports are completed and then maintains the files of corresponding standards.
For More Information
For more information visit the CALEA website