2007/11/21 Council Agenda Packet

Everett Police Department Achieves National Accreditation Chief James Scharf is pleased to announce that the Everett Police Department has successfully completed a multi --year process designed to attain internationally acknowledged law enforcement recognition by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA®). The Everett Police Department was officially recognized on November 17, 2007, at CALEA's Fall Conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado. CALEA was established as a private, non-profit accrediting authority in 1979 by the four major law enforcement executive associations: International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP); National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE); National Sheriffs' Association (NSA); and Police Executive Research Forum (PERF). The Commission has 21 members; 11 of whom are law enforcement practitioners, with the remaining 10 from the public and private sectors. CALEA's purpose and mission is two -fold. First, to establish a body of standards designed to increase agency effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of public safety services and, second, to establish and administer a series of credentialing programs through which public safety agencies can demonstrate voiuntariiythat they meet an established set of internationally recognized professional standards leading to excellence in management and service delivery. The CALEA Accreditation/Recognition Process, itself, is a proven modern management model. Once implemented, it presents an agency's Chief Executive Officer, 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. The standards upon which CALEA's Programs are based reflect the current thinking and experience of public safety practitioners and researchers and are considered benchmarks for today's public safety agencies.