East Hartford Police Earns CALEA Accreditation
East Hartford, CT—On Saturday, November 16, 2019, the East Hartford Police Department was formally presented with its accreditation award from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA). CALEA is a credentialing authority whose mission is to accredit public safety agencies found in compliance with established professional standards and consistently demonstrate excellence in their policies, procedures, and practices.
The accreditation process has served to open agencies to review while demonstrating they operate as part of the community and are responsible to it. CALEA standards help create clear expectations for public safety personnel and supports best practices in law enforcement.
“It’s been a long process of diligent self-assessment of the department’s documentation, compliance with requirements and standards that led to the EHPD’s successful accreditation,” said Mayor Marcia Leclerc. “This accreditation is an instrumental accomplishment that recognizes the police department’s full commitment to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our community and compliance with international standards of 21st century policing.”
East Hartford Police voluntarily entered into the CALEA Accreditation process and after a three year self-assessment period the department was inspected onsite this past June. During the on-site assessment, CALEA assigned two assessors to thoroughly review the department's documentation demonstrating the organization's compliance with the Commission's 151 applicable standards and hundreds of associated requirements. The assessment team examined all aspects of the East Hartford Police Department including policies and procedures, management, operations, and support services. Additionally, the assessors spoke to several local residents as well as community leaders throughout their visit, forwarding their on-site evaluation and findings to CALEA. Following a review of the report, CALEA’s Commissioners Committee voted to accredit the East Hartford police Department at this past November’s international conference in Covington, Kentucky. Chief Sansom presented the department’s Certificate of Accreditation during last night’s Town Council meeting at the East Hartford Town Hall.
“The CALEA standards are recognized as the benchmark in 21st Century Policing,” said Police Chief Scott Sansom. “Adherence to these standards shows residents, visitors and department members the East Hartford Police Department is fully committed to providing the very best in police services.” Chief Sansom also acknowledged that this accreditation award is only possible due to the hard work and professionalism of the Department’s sworn and civilian employees.
In addition to the East Hartford Police Department, there are only eighteen (18) other municipal Law Enforcement agencies in Connecticut that are accredited by CALEA. Nationwide only 5% of approximately 18,000 law enforcement agencies have achieved CALEA Accreditation. For more information go to http://www.calea.org/.