The Andover Police Department received its initial accreditation by CALEA in 2013, having demonstrated compliance with a comprehensive set of over 360 police standards which are based on best practices that reflect the current thinking and experience of national law enforcement practitioners and researchers. In December of 2015, the agency went through a second on-site, 4-day assessment, demonstrating its continued compliance with these CALEA standards and were re-accredited on April 2, 2016. 

 

Almost 4-years later, in December of 2019 the Police Department and the E-911 Emergency Communications Center went through a four-day on-site assessment.  On March 19, 2020, Chief Keller, along with the department’s accreditation manager Jessica Smith, Operations Commander Captain Buck Buchanan, Special Services Commander Joseph Schroeder and Communications Director Becky Tapia appeared before CALEA’s full board of commissioners via a conference call to answer questions. At the conclusion of the hearing, the board of commissioners unanimously approved the Andover Police Department’s request for re-accreditation and awarded CALEA’s “Advanced Law Enforcement Accreditation.” Additionally, the Commission approved the Andover E-911 Emergency Communications Center’s request for their initial accreditation and awarded CALEA’s “Communications Accreditation.”

Andover’s Police Chief Mike Keller feels receiving the Police Department’s re-accreditation, and receiving the E-911 Emergency Communication’s initial accreditation, actually being the first communications center in Kansas to be nationally accredited, is significant because it demonstrates not only the agency’s overall ability to comply with nationally accepted standards and best practices, but also shows that the men and women that make up the Andover Police Department and E-911 Emergency Center actually live these standards on a day-to-day basis!

Since the first CALEA Accreditation Award was granted in 1984, the program has become the primary method for a law enforcement agency to voluntarily demonstrate their commitment to public safety excellence. This coveted designation is considered the highest standard of excellence in law enforcement and emergency communications. With the Police Department’s “Advanced” re-accreditation, and the E-911 Emergency Communication Center’s initial accreditation, Andover remains in an elite class of the top 3 percent of all law enforcement and emergency communications agencies in the country.   

The accreditation award is granted for a four-year period during which time the agencies must submit annual reports and remote file inspections, attesting to continued compliance with all applicable standards. During each four-year cycle, another on-site assessment is conducted by CALEA assessors in order to maintain the Accreditation status.

 

About CALEA

The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. was established as an independent accrediting authority in 1979 by the four major national law enforcement associations whose members represent approximately 80% of the law enforcement profession in this nation. They include: International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP); National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE); National Sheriff’s Association (NSA); and Police Executive Research Forum (PERF). It derives its accreditation authority from those agencies that voluntarily participate in the accreditation program. Its goal is to improve the delivery of law enforcement services to the public by offering a body of standards, developed by law enforcement practitioners, covering a wide range of up-to-date law enforcement topics.