A team of assessors from the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission is scheduled to arrive Tuesday, June 20, to begin examining various aspects of the Arlington Police Department’s policies and procedures, operations and facilities.
Verification by the assessment team that the department meets the commission’s standards is part of a voluntary process to gain state reaccreditation — a self-initiated evaluation process by which police departments strive to meet and maintain standards that have been established for and by the profession.
These selected standards reflect critical areas of police management, operations and technical support activities. They cover such areas as policy development, emergency response planning, training, communications, property and evidence handling, use of force, vehicular pursuit, prisoner transportation and holding facilities. The program not only sets standards for law enforcement, but also for the delivery of police services to citizens.
State accreditation consists of 257 mandatory standards as well as 125 optional standards. To be reaccredited, the department must meet all applicable mandatory standards as well as 60 percent of the optional standards.
The commission offers two program awards: certification and accreditation, with the latter the higher of the two. The Arlington Police Department became a certified agency in March 2008 and then gained full accreditation in September. If achieved, the reaccreditation award will be granted for three years.
Reaccreditation is a highly prized recognition of law-enforcement professional excellence.
Anyone interested in learning more about this program is invited to contact Chief Frederick Ryan or Capt. Richard Flynn, department accreditation manager.
This news announcement was published Thursday, June 8, 2017.
