News Flash

A team of assessors from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., will arrive at the Dubuque Police Department on April 13th, 2013, to examine all aspects of the Department’s policies and procedures; management; operations and support services.

Re-accreditation would indicate the Dubuque Police Department meets the Commission’s standards as part of a voluntary process to gain this highly prized recognition of law enforcement professional excellence. The agency was originally accredited on July 31st, 1993, and received the Meritorious Accreditation Award in 2010. This is the agency’s sixth re-accreditation on-site assessment.

As part of the assessment, a public input session will be held giving the public and agency employees an opportunity to offer comments on departmental services and performance. This session is scheduled for Monday, April 15th, 2013, at 6:00 p.m. at the Carnegie-Stout Public Library, 360 W. 11th Street, Dubuque.

If an individual is unable to attend the public input session but would like to provide comments to the assessment team, he or she may do so by calling 563-587-3820 on Monday, April 15th, 2013, between the hours of 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Telephone comments and those made at the public input session are limited to 10 minutes and must address the agency’s ability to comply with the Commission’s standards. For more information on these standards, please call Corporal Steve Eastvedt, Accreditation Manager, at 589-7889.

Persons wishing to offer written comments about the Dubuque Police Department’s ability to comply with the standards for re-accreditation should write: Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., 13575 Heathcote Blvd, Suite 320, Gainesville, Virginia, 20155.

The Dubuque Police Department has to comply with 489 standards in order to retain accredited status. Accreditation is an important achievement as it reassures citizens and persons dealing with the police department that it is organized and operating consistently with professional standards.

The assessment team is composed of law enforcement practitioners from similar, but out-of-state agencies. The assessors will review written materials; conduct interviews; and visit offices and other places where compliance can be assessed. The assessors are: Team Leader Russ McElwee, retired from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department in North Carolina, and Chief Gary Vest of the Powell, Ohio, Police Department. Once the assessment is complete, the team will report back to the full Commission, at which time it will be determined if re-accreditation is granted. If so, re-accreditation status will be valid for a period of three years.

For more information regarding the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, contact: CALEA, 13575 Heathcote Blvd., Suite 320, Gainesville, Virginia, 20155, phone 1-703-352-4225, or at www.calia.org.