MassCops - Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network, A Mass Police Web Portal

Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network

Massachusetts Police News, Information and Discussions on MassCops



Pages: 1
Main Page

Northeastern PD Seeks Accreditation

(Click here to view the original thread on the MassCops Message Board)

Posted by: fscpd907

NUPD seeks accreditation



By: Michele Richinick

Posted: 1/14/08

Northeastern is catching on to the trend of police department accreditation, which is spreading throughout the country, according to Jim Ferrier, associate director of Public Safety.

Ferrier said the movement to accredit law enforcement began in the United States more than 20 years ago. At that time, accreditation had been a common practice for high schools, colleges and hospitals as a voluntary way to help agencies ensure these places were doing their duties correctly.

"The main point of the [accreditation] program is to establish a base to compare ourselves with other agencies by meeting the standards and by being provided with the norm to judge our performance," said D. Joseph Griffin, director of Public Safety. "For years the office has been working very hard to create a safe environment, and that is something that we have been consistent at. Working at accreditation is a stamp of approval that we are doing things professionally."

An accreditation can be a voluntary program, but as more and more departments pursue accreditation, it will continue to grow.

The first level of the Massachusetts Commission accreditation is certification, which Northeastern met in 2004 by passing 150 standards. That certification was good for 3 years, so in 2007 Northeastern was re-certified. In the meantime, Northeastern has started to progress toward the second level: accreditation. The police department had the site visit in November 2007, and the final report of the hopeful accreditation will be presented in February 2008, Ferrier said.

"Defense attorneys and others who criticize police departments will be less likely to find faults once they know a department is accredited," Ferrier said.

A potential accredited university police department remains a positive, comforting aspect for current and speculating students.

"As a student it is important to feel safe, and if Northeastern is accredited then we are in the higher level of police departments," said Brendan Slean, a freshman journalism major.

The benefits of a department's accreditation go beyond its self-assurance, said John Leonard, the accreditation coordinator for The International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA).

"Accreditation provides the level of confidence to the community that is being served and, most importantly, to the students, their families, faculty, staff and administration of the institution," Leonard said. "Any serious student wouldn't go to a college or university that wasn't accredited because they would think twice about going to a non-accredited hospital. Standards don't dictate how something is done. … They only ensure that it is done."
The accreditation process did not catch on around the country as many police departments had hoped it would because the 400 national standards for meeting accreditation were difficult to comply with for each state and city around the country, Ferrier said.

"[Accreditation] was a good idea but the national generic level was not appropriate to individual states given political subdivisions. As a result, individual states developed their own accreditation standards," he said.

Police agencies in Massachusetts have three opportunities to become accredited, Leonard said. Both the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) and the Massachusetts Commission on
Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies will only accredit law enforcement departments that have the authority to arrest. IACLEA, an association that advances public safety for educational institutions by providing educational resources, advocacy and professional development services, represents 1,800 colleges and universities throughout the world. Its primary focus is campus public safety departments that are non-sworn police departments.

About 100 police departments in Massachusetts have joined the process of being certified or accredited, but the majority of police departments in the state have not yet attained accreditation, Ferrier said.

"We (Northeastern) were early in the process," he said. "We were the fifth university department in the state and about the 20th department overall."
To apply for accreditation in Massachusetts, a department must apply, pay a fee and comply with at least half of the 400 standards.

"For the past five years Northeastern has focused its attention to be accredited by the state's standards. Now we are turning to meet IACLEA's standards," Ferrier said.
The accreditation process is performed by a trained commission, consisting of full-time law enforcement supervisors. The review takes about two or three days to complete, and interviews are made to ensure the departments have written policies that each personnel understands.

"The accreditation process allows departments an advantage because it requires them to do self-assessments and to look at their own policies and procedures, which range from hiring staff to policies of search and seizure," Ferrier said. "The process allows for review to ensure that the department has appropriate policies in place and is consistent that all of the officers know what the policies are. It is reaffirmation that the department is doing things professionally."


Posted by: Kilvinsky

The first step is to treat their people right. If they do THAT, who knows what could happen at NU. Great people but from my understanding, the admin kicks them around and doesn't take care of them at all.

Of course, this is based on information gathered from several former NU cops, not one or two, but all of them could be simply disgruntled.

I wish NUPD much luck in this, so long as it's not at the expense of the rank and file cops who work there.


Posted by: Barbrady

We are currenly going through CALEA accreditation..what a nightmare. Except for the equipment upgrades.


Posted by: Crvtte65

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kilvinsky
The first step is to treat their people right. If they do THAT, who knows what could happen at NU. Great people but from my understanding, the admin kicks them around and doesn't take care of them at all.

Of course, this is based on information gathered from several former NU cops, not one or two, but all of them could be simply disgruntled.

I wish NUPD much luck in this, so long as it's not at the expense of the rank and file cops who work there.
No you got it right


Posted by: mpd61

I remember when we were nearly 95% completed with certification at Massasoit, and then...

Awww you know the story by now!

ma police, boston ma police, massachusetts police, massachusetts police, mass state police, mass police, ma, mass, massachusetts, massachusetts, massachutes, massachusetts law, massachusetts polece, police, officer, police officer, cops, police gear, law enforcement, police duty gear, state police, sheriff, law, police supply, police agency directory, police agency, police department, traffic officer, police dept, state trooper, dispatcher, massachusetts county sheriff, massachusetts sheriff, massachusetts department of corrections, ma doc, doc, dept of corrections, police information, civil service, ma civil service, massachusetts crime, police training, police academy, ma police academy, massachusetts officers, masscop, masscops, mpa, bpa, ibpoa, police association, massachusetts police news, massachusetts crime news, mass most wanted, police career information, police patrol, police administration, police books, crime scene training, police discussion, crime discussions, cops

About MassCops, the home for Massachusetts law enforcement.

The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network opened in 1998 and is now a part of the New England Police Network The site is a pro-police discussion forum intended for sworn police officers and civilian law enforcement officials as well as those interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement here in Massachusetts.

The goal of The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network is to provide an informal network of law enforcement officials here in Massachusetts for educational and informational purposes.

The forum covers many topics such as Police Related News Articles, Agency & Profession Discussions, Police Training as well as Law Enforcement Career Information.

The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network and The New England Police Network (NEPN) and it's network sites are privately owned websites/domains and are not affiliated with or endorsed by any government association or agency.

MassCops (masscops.com) and (masscop.com) are privately owned are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Massachusetts Coalition of Police (masscop.org)



vBulletin Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Limited.
vB Easy Archive Final ©2000 - 2008 - Created by Stefan "Xenon" Kaeser

3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 49 50 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108