The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., (CALEA®) was created in 1979 as a credentialing authority through the joint efforts of law enforcement’s major executive associations.
The purpose of CALEA’s Accreditation Programs is to improve the delivery of public safety services, primarily by: maintaining a body of standards, developed by public safety practitioners, covering a wide range of up-to-date public safety initiatives; establishing and administering an accreditation process; and recognizing professional excellence.
Accreditation embodies the principles of community-oriented policing, and the Arlington Police Department has been accredited by CALEA since 1989, and the Training Center since 2010. CALEA is the Gold Standard of accreditation for public safety and the process is part of a continuing quality control methods of documentation and evaluation based on self and peer assessment. In participating, Arlington works towards the improvement of administrative and operational quality to ensure public accountability and national “best practice” methods. CALEA Accreditation provides public safety agencies an opportunity to voluntarily demonstrate they meet an established set of professional standards based on industry best practices and approved by an all-volunteer Board of Commissioners.
Accreditation Public Comment Portal
The purpose of this public portal is to receive comments regarding an agency’s compliance with CALEA standards, engagement in the service community, delivery of public safety services, and overall candidacy for re-accreditation status. These comments can be in the form of commendations or concerns. The overall intent of the accreditation process is to provide the participating agency with information to support continuous improvement, as well as foster the pursuit of professional excellence.
The Police Department and the Training Center are scheduled for the next on-site CALEA assessment August 14-19, 2023, As both strive for the highest levels of performance in the Advance Law Enforcement levels to receive the level of Excellence yet once again. To leave your comments you can go to either of the links listed here to do so.
IMPORTANT: CALEA is not an investigatory body and subsequently the public portal should not be used to submit information for such purposes. Additionally, there will be no response other than acknowledgement to submissions; however, the information will be considered in context to its relevancy to compliance with standards and the tenets of CALEA Accreditation.