 |
 |
By Tom Collins
Arizona Daily Wildcat
August 27, 1996
The UA Police Department has kept its place as the only professionally accredited law enforcement organization in southern Arizona.The UAPD was reaccredited in August by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc., said UAPD Acting Lt. Brian Seastone.
CALEA was started when numerous professional law enforcement organizations saw the need for professional standards in law enforcement, Seastone said.
CALEA has created a set of standards that its members must comply with, Seastone said.
The group operates under the same idea that accreditation commissions in health care and education do, said Ted LeMay, program manager for CALEA.
"It's a good blueprint to address issues that need to be addressed in this day and age," LeMay said.
The group addresses policies and procedures on use of force, vehicle pursuit, and grievances with the department, Seastone said. He said CALEA upholds 436 specific policies that an agency must meet.
"It's a cookbook," Seastone said of CALEA's policies and procedure manual.
The commission's policies deal with any "issue deemed to be important from a law enforcement standpoint," LeMay said.
Since CALEA began accrediting law enforcement organizations in 1984, 400 of North America's 17,000 law enforcement agencies have met CALEA standards, Seastone said. UAPD became the 251st accredited agency in March 1993, and only the fifth university police force accredited, Seastone said. He said UAPD was only the third department in the state to meet the standard, after the Phoenix and Tempe Police Departments.
UAPD was the first university police force in Arizona to be accredited, with Northern Arizona University Police gaining acceptance in March and the Arizona State University Department of Public Safety in the application process now, Seastone said.
The Pima Community College Police Department and the Tucson Airport Authority Police Department are currently applying to join southern Arizona's accredited agencies.
"Everybody knows the ball game they're playing under everyday," Seastone said.
Several agencies have failed to maintain their compliance, and therefore, have not maintained their accreditation, he said.
"We're really proud of it," Seastone said of the reaccreditation.
|
|
|