MPD working toward national accreditation

The city of Maricopa Police Department has entered into the self-assessment phase of the accreditation process with the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA®) and is looking forward to becoming a fully accredited agency in the fall of 2011.

Since 1984, the accreditation program has become the primary method for an agency to voluntarily demonstrate their commitment to excellence in law enforcement. The CALEA accreditation process is a proven modern management model. It presents the Chief/Director on a continuing basis with a blueprint that promotes the efficient use of resources and improves service delivery- regardless of the size, geographic location or functional responsibilities of the agency.

Major law enforcement associations, leading educational and training institutions, governmental agencies, as well as law enforcement executives internationally, acknowledge CALEA’s Standards for Law Enforcement Agencies© and its accreditation program as benchmarks for today’s law enforcement agency. The standards prescribe “what” agencies should be doing, but not “how” they should be doing it. That decision is left up to the individual agency and its Chief/Director.

Public Safety Director Patrick Melvin came to the City of Maricopa with the promise to give Maricopa a professional police department. The Maricopa Police Department began providing services to this city on a 24-hour-a-day basis in January of 2008. The official application for accreditation was approved in December 2008 by city council.

The department has a three-year window to be prepared for an on-site assessment by CALEA assessors. Director Melvin chose to begin accreditation early on so that from the beginning, the department would be aligning itself with nationally recognized best practices.

The following list outlines some of the benefits the City of Maricopa will realize by having an accredited police department:

· A comprehensive, well thought out, uniform set of written directives (This is one of the most successful methods for reaching administrative and operational goals, while also providing direction to personnel.
· The necessary reports and analyses a Chief/Director needs to make fact-based, informed management decisions
· A preparedness program in place so an agency is ready to address natural or man-made unusual occurrences
· Developing or improving upon an agency’s relationship with the community
· Accountability, both within the agency and the community, through a continuum of standards that clearly define authority, performance, and responsibilities
· A limit an agency’s liability and risk exposure because it demonstrates that internationally recognized standards for law enforcement have been met, as verified by a team of independent outside CALEA-trained assessors

“Accreditation is the department’s opportunity to be involved in a process to meet the best practices standard set by law enforcement agencies across the nation,” said Sgt. Stephen Judd, MPD public relations officer.

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