:: Accreditation 

The Fall River Police Department, currently under the leadership of Police Chief John M. Souza, aggressively undertook the self initiated process of Certification and Accreditation that is governed by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission in August of 2005. This process is a mechanism by which police departments strive to meet and maintain standards that have been established by the profession and for the profession. The standards have been carefully selected to reflect the critical areas of police management, operations, and technical support functions. The areas covered include: policy development, emergency response, planning, training, communications, property and evidence handling, use of force, vehicular pursuit, prisoner transportation and holding facilities. The Certification and Accreditation programs not only set standards for the law enforcement profession, but also for the delivery of police services to the citizens of the City of Fall River.

The Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission consists of an eleven-member board of Directors. Six members are appointed by the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, two by the Coalition of Accreditation Managers of Massachusetts, one by the Massachusetts Municipal Association and one by the Massachusetts Police Association. The eleventh board member is left for the board to choose and must be affiliated with an academic institution. The Commission's primary role is to establish and administer both the standards and the assessment process.

Participating in the process initially requires self-scrutiny and ultimately provides a quality assurance review of the Department. The Department initially undertook the Certification process and allowed independent assessors from the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission to review Department policies and procedures. The Department received Certification from the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission on December 7, 2006. The Fall River Police Department was the largest police department in Massachusetts to be awarded Certification status.

The Department then aggressively pursued the commissions highest award, accreditation. Through the cooperative effort of every member of the Department, the Department complied with over 400 standards to accomplish this goal. The Fall River Police Department was awarded Accreditation status on June 21, 2007 for a period of three years. The Department must maintain compliance with all of the standards. The Commission assessors will return in 18 months and perform a midpoint review and the Department will undergo another assessment in three years to maintain its accredited status. The Fall River Police Department is now the largest Police Department in Massachusetts to be awarded Accreditation status.

Massachusetts is only one of twenty-two states that offer an accreditation process for police departments.

The standards for certification and accreditation impact officer and public safety. They also address high liability issues and promote operational efficiency throughout the police department. The benefits are many and vary among police departments based on the state of a department when it initially enters the process. The benefits of certification and accreditation are realized by making changes in operations which generally involve policy writing, facility improvements and equipment purchases. Some of the most common benefits of a department participating in the process are:

• Providing a norm for the Department to judge its performance
• Providing a process to correct deficiencies before they become public problems
• Requiring the Department to commit to policies and procedures in writing
• Promoting accountability among Department personnel
• Ensuring consistent application of policies
• Providing a means of independent evaluation of the Department's operations
• Minimizing the Department's exposure to liability
• Building a stronger defense against lawsuits
• Providing the potential to reduce liability insurance costs
• Enhancing the reputation of the department
• Increasing the public's confidence in the Department

The Fall River Police Department is determined to provide the best professional services to the citizens of the City of Fall River. The Department, under the leadership of Chief of John M. Souza, will now embark on the highest achievement a Police Department can strive for, obtaining national accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc.(CALEA) Out of approximately 18,000 police departments in the United States, less than 600 are accredited by this independent agency.