In 1997, at the direction of HUD, the Boston Housing Authority Police began the task of achieving national accreditation. This was a yearlong process that required the department to upgrade its rules and regulations, policies and procedures to ensure that the department met national standards. In November of 1998 the department became the third law enforcement agency in the state of Massachusetts to achieve accredited status. As part of the accreditation process, agencies are reviewed every three years to maintain this high level of professionalism.
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The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., is a non-profit organization formed in 1979 by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, The National Sheriff’s Association, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, and the Police Executive Research Forum. After several years of national research, these professional organizations developed the Standards for Law Enforcement Agencies. The Commission’s principle publication contained 436 standards, streamlined down from the original 900 standards prepared by the four major law enforcement executive membership associations that founded the Commission. The original standards were presented to the Commission, which reviewed each standard. Following a field review of the standards by several hundred-law enforcement agencies, the Commission adopted the standards in April 1983. These law enforcement standards were designed to:
- Increase law enforcement agency abilities to prevent and control crime;
- Increase agency effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of law enforcement services;
- Increase cooperation and coordination with other law enforcement agencies, and with other agencies of the criminal justice system; and
- Increase citizen and employee confidence in the goals, objectives, policies and practices of the agency.
In addition, the Commission was formed to develop a process that provides state and local law enforcement agencies an opportunity to demonstrate voluntarily that they meet an established set of law enforcement standards.
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Accreditation demonstrates the commitment of the agency to professionalism-in terms of adherence to a body of standards. It also assures the community that its law enforcement agency is committed to a high quality of service and that its policies and procedures are effective and responsive on the one hand, and fair and equitable on the other. Further, the process enhances community understanding of the law enforcement agency’s role-as well as its goals and objectives, promoting community cooperation.
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