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.