Congratulations to the Corvallis Police Department are in order for achieving re-accreditation of the department through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement (CALEA), an internationally renowned accreditation agency. CPD was first accredited in 1995.
This year is slightly different as CPD earned the organization’s highest award, Accreditation with Excellence (AWE), at the CALEA annual conference in Orlando, Fla. This is the ninth award of national accreditation that’s gone to CPD, and the first time the department has earned the AWE award which was only awarded to six of the 115 agencies accredited at the CALEA spring conference.
This award was created as a symbolic incentive for agencies to employ their accreditation in a manner that sets the benchmark for public safety professionalism. The award was structured to recognize agencies that meet the following criteria:
- Excellence in the development and implementation of contemporary policies and procedures.
- Excellence in the ability to use the CALEA Accreditation process as a tool for continuous organizational improvement.
- Excellence in the collection, review, and analysis of organizational data for the purpose of public safety service improvement.
- Advocacy for CALEA Accreditation as a strategy for enhancing the professional standing of public safety.
- Excellence in addressing the intent of CALEA standards, beyond compliance.
- An organizational culture that’s supportive of CALEA Accreditation.
- Standards compliance and accreditation process success.
Corvallis City Manager Mark Shepard, Chief of Police Nick Hurley, and Accreditation Manager Laurie Jackson accepted the award in person from the CALEA commission.
“This prestigious recognition could not have been accomplished without the efforts and professionalism of the department’s staff, elected officials, and the support of the Corvallis community,” Chief Hurley said.
For 27 years, CPD has consistently maintained and adhered to over 360 best practices in law enforcement through the accreditation process. The next step for the Corvallis Police Department will be to continue with this process and move into the next four-year accreditation cycle.
“The Corvallis community can be proud of their police department, which has held itself to rigorous standards year in and year out to earn and maintain this accreditation,” said City Manager Shepard.
For more information on the CALEA accreditation process, visit this site.
By Ethan Hauck
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