Commission on
Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies
The Commission on
Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) is a Virginia-based
agency which grants accredited status to law enforcement agencies
throughout the world who meet strict criteria established by the
Commission.
CALEA was formed
in 1979 for establishing a body of standards designed to (1) increase
law enforcement agency capabilities to prevent and control crime, (2)
increase agency effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of law
enforcement services, (3) increase cooperation and coordination with
other law enforcement agencies and with other agencies of the criminal
justice system, and (4) increase citizen and employee confidence in the
goals, objectives, policies and practices of the agency. In addition,
the commission was formed to develop an accreditation process that
provides law enforcement agencies an opportunity to demonstrate
voluntarily that they meet an established set of professional standards.
These four major law enforcement executive membership associations -
International Association of Chiefs of Police,
National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, National
Sheriff's Association, and Police Executive Research Forum - joined
forces to create the Commission and to appoint its members. The
Commission is composed of 21 members: at least 11 law enforcement
professionals, and the balance from governmental areas and from the
private sector. The Commission reflects the broad representation from
state and local levels as well as from many regions of the United States
and Canada.
Following its first organizational meeting in 1979, the Commission
turned its attention to the consideration of standards drafted by the
four associations. The final chapters of the draft standards were
approved on May 1, 1982. During this 28-month time frame, there were
organizational changes. The four associations incorporated the
Commission as an independent, non-profit corporation on October 1980. In
March 1981, an Executive Director was employed to begin work on program
implementation. Since then other staff have been employed. After
approval of the draft standards, the four associations and the
Commission's staff initiated a field review of the standards
and developed the accreditation process, including all relevant
policies, procedures, manuals and forms. Most of 1982 and 1983 was spent
with field testing the standards and the accreditation process. The
standards and process received final approval from the Commission in
September 1983.
Since initial approval, the standards have undergone many
interpretations, adjustments, and amendments. These changes were
reported in eight major change notices issued between September 1983 and
November 1992. In May 1987, the Commission reprinted the second edition
of the Standards Manual (Standards for Law Enforcement Agencies) in
loose-leaf form and initiated an update service.
In March 1993, the Commission ordered a top-to-bottom review of the
standards and accreditation process after nearly ten years of operation.
A Review Task Force, representing a wide cross-section of the
Commission's user community, undertook an extensive, year-long review of
the standards. Following several drafts and a field review, the task
force made final recommendation the Commission and the third edition of
the Standards Manual was approved in March 1994.
The Fourth Edition of the Standards Manual was issued in January 1999
and the number of standards was increased from 436 to 446.
The Fifth Edition contains 459 law enforcement standards organized into
38 chapters, or topic areas. In the Commission's view, the standards
reflect the best professional requirements and practices for a law
enforcement agency. Initially, the Winter Haven Police Department
successfully completed this process in 1997. Out department was
re-accredited in 2000, 2003, 2006 and is scheduled for re-assessment in
2009.
Commission on Accreditation for
Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) 10302 Eaton Place, Suite 100 Fairfax VA 22030-2215 1-800-368-3757
Commission on Accreditation for