RPD Seeks CALEA Re-Accreditation

A team of assessors from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. will be in Raleigh from December 3 through 6 to conduct an on-site assessment of the Raleigh Police Department. As part of its re-accreditation efforts, the department is inviting the community to become involved in the CALEA process.

The Raleigh Police Department first achieved national accreditation from CALEA in 1992. To attain accredited status, a law enforcement agency must meet 480 standards in nine law enforcement areas: role, responsibilities and relationships; organization, management and administration; personnel structure; personnel process; operations; and operations support. To maintain the status, accredited police departments must undergo re-accreditation every three years, and the department is now in the midst of that process.

While CALEA accreditation is not mandatory, it is highly valued, because it demonstrates that a law enforcement agency is meeting the highest standards of professional excellence. As part of the re-accreditation process, employees and community members are invited to provide comments to the assessment team, and there will be three ways to do that:

• Between the hours of 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, December 4, they may speak with the re-accreditation assessment team by calling a Raleigh telephone number – (919) 996-1167;
• On December 5, they may attend a public hearing, which will be held in the Downtown District Conference Room at 218 W. Cabarrus St. from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.;
• Or they may submit written comments to the assessment team through December 6, 2011 by writing to CALEA at 13575 Heathcote Blvd., Suite 320, Gainsville, VA 20155.

Oral comments will be limited to 10 minutes per person and must address the agency’s ability to comply with CALEA standards. A copy of those standards is available for public review in the Office of Professional Standards at the police department's headquarters at 6716 Six Forks Rd.  Information about the standards and about the re-accreditation process also may be obtained by calling Sgt. James Dunn at (919) 996-1283.

CALEA’s accreditation program manager for the Raleigh Police Department is Maya Mitchell. In accordance with CALEA’s policies, the assessment team is made up of law enforcement practitioners from agencies that are not located in the same state as the entity being considered for accreditation. The members of the on-site team are: Chief Paul Verrecchia, College of Charleston Department of Public Safety and Dr. R. John Clarke, Georgia Tech Security and Police Department accreditation manager.

The team will conduct interviews, visit police offices and review written materials as part of the on-site assessment. After it completes its review, the team will report findings to the full commission, which has the responsibility for making decisions on re-accreditation.