Police preparing for CALEA evaluation

By JEFF HANOUILLE
Editor
ENFIELD – In the entire state of Connecticut there are only 11 CALEA-certified police departments. The Enfield Police Department is one member of that small, elite group.
The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) was established in 1979 as an independent accrediting authority by a number of law enforcement organizations including the 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).
CALEA’s commission meets three times a year to award accreditation and reaccreditation to law enforcement agencies that go through a comprehensive review of the law enforcement agency’s organization, management , operations and administration.
The Enfield Police Department, which was initially awarded CALEA accreditation in 1996, is currently preparing for its on-site visit from CALEA officials in hope of earning its fourth reaccreditation. After its first accreditation in ’96, Enfield earned reaccreditation in 2001, 2004 and 2007. If it receives reaccreditation again this year, it will not be up for evaluation for another three years.
While the process of documenting and providing “proofs” of standard and policy for the on-site evaluation is an ongoing process, Officer and Accreditation Manager Tom Pyrcz said earning the accreditation is important.
“This really forces us to constantly go through self assessment of our policies and standards,” said Pyrcz, who has been tediously preparing documents for the department’s on-site evaluation on April 11.
“CALEA has some 464 standards that we have to show proof of compliance with in order to receive accreditation. It really is quite a process but it gives us the opportunity to make sure that if there ever is a problem we have the right procedures and standards to ensure we do things correctly.”
CALEA officials do everything from inspect the police department’s holding facility to ride along with officers in their cruisers to make sure standards are met.
The main reason law enforcement agencies want the accreditation from CALEA is to show that they meet the national body of standards developed by the commission. Being CALEA accredited may also include the lowering of liability insurance costs because the law enforcement agency is constantly going through self assessment to make sure it meets CALEA’s high standards, and generally being accredited results in more support from the community.
“It’s really important that we don’t get complacent with what we do,” Police Chief Carl J. Sferrazza said. “This accreditation process is not easy – in fact it is very labor intensive. The fact that this process is voluntary makes it more significant and makes us a better police department.”
The CALEA officials will arrive in Enfield on April 10 and tour the police department on April 11. On Monday, April 12, there will be a special meeting for the public to attend in the Council Chambers at Town Hall where residents can express there thoughts – good or bad – about the police department with the CALEA officials. That meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. but a phone-in session will take place earlier in the afternoon for those who cannot attend. The time to call in for that session will be announced on a later date. Following the evaluation, the CALEA officials give the police department a good idea of the areas it did well on and the areas it needs to improve on. Later this year, the accreditation awards will be given out to all the agencies which passed the evaluation process.
Pyrcz, who has been on the Enfield accreditation team since 2000, said the accreditation is something all law enforcement agencies should strive for.
“I think it shows a heck of a commitment toward professionalism,” Pyrcz said. “It’s a nationally recognized award for excellence and something we can hang our hat on to show that we have policy and procedure in place to deal with any problems. You see on the news all the time about other police departments that have problems and it’s a big sigh of relief for me to know that those problems would not happen to us because we have the right policies in place.”