Tue, Dec 02 2008
|
|
Published July 26, 2008 07:14 pm - City officials are planning a celebration Monday for the Joplin Police Department, which was awarded accreditation by a national organization on Saturday in Florida. Joplin Police Department achieves accreditation By Debby Woodin
dwoodin@joplinglobe.com City officials are planning a celebration Monday for the Joplin Police Department, which was awarded accreditation by a national organization on Saturday in Florida. After nearly three years of work, the department was officially enlisted by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), based in Fairfax, Va. Police Chief Lane Roberts, Lt. Jeff Trotnic and Mayor Gary Shaw attended a banquet Saturday night in Boca Raton, Fla., where the agencies that achieved accreditation this year were recognized. Assistant Chief Jason Burns said Friday that the department went through a three-phase procedure to earn accreditation. He said the bulk of that work entailed rewriting the department’s policy manual to incorporate CALEA’s standing operating guidelines. CALEA has 459 individual standards that must be adopted and implemented. “CALEA describes what has to be done but leaves the how up to the agency,” Burns said. “CALEA expects the agency to live up to the standards.” He said accreditation is meant to achieve greater accountability within the department. “We opened the department to nationally accepted guidelines so that the community knows we abide by professionally accepted standards,” Burns said. After going through the application process, and then the self-assessment phase in which the department’s policies were evaluated and adjusted to adapt to CALEA standards, a team of CALEA evaluators visited the department to determine if the department had done the work to implement those standards, Burns said. After accreditation is awarded, the self-assessment work continues in three-year cycles to keep the department operating at peak efficiency, he said. A reception for the department is scheduled for 4 to 6 p.m. Monday in the lobby of the Dr. Donald E. Clark Public Safety and Justice Center, 303 E. Third St. Mayor Gary Shaw said CALEA was started in the 1970s to give police departments guidelines for establishing a high level of professional service. “I know they have 459 standards and these are standards the department has to meet or exceeded. To me, that means they are kind of like the elite,” Shaw said. “They’re not just getting by doing the least requirements. They’re going the extra mile to be the best they can be and, as citizens, we ought to be proud of them.” Residents are invited to attend the reception, the mayor said. 
•
Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.
More from the Local News section
Area college, university officials bracing for cuts Miami closing in on completing three homes in flood program Girl, 12, dies of suspected heart attack Joplin City Council approves streetlight project
|
Print this story
E-mail this story
Post to del.icio.us
Discuss this story
Residents file nuisance lawsuit against CAFOs w/ link to copy of the lawsuit
 |
 |
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
The Joplin Globe Publishing Company 117 East Fourth Street, Joplin, MO 64801 Using our site is your agreement to the terms and conditions. News: news@joplinglobe.com • (417)623-3480 Advertise with the Joplin Globe Copyright © 2006 The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO All rights reserved. |
Popular Business directory links - Joplin Apartments | Joplin Attorneys | Joplin Auto Dealers | Joplin Auto Parts | Joplin Auto Repair | Joplin Beauty Salons | Joplin Car Rental | Joplin Dentists | Joplin Doctors | Joplin Flowers | Joplin Hotels | Joplin Insurance | Joplin Loans | Joplin Mortgages | Joplin Movers | Joplin Pizza | Joplin Realtors | Joplin Restaurants | Joplin Storage | Joplin Tax Preparation | Joplin Travel | Joplin Featured | More...
|
|
Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. • CNHI Classified Advertising Network • CNHI News Service |