Staunton Police Department recently received its seventh accreditation award - August 9

NEWS RELEASE

August 9, 2007

The Staunton Police Department recently received its seventh accreditation award from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) at the Commission’s summer conference in Montreal. Currently, only the Staunton Police Department and Tampa, Florida Police Department have received seven accreditation awards.

The police department was recognized for meritorious accreditation for maintaining continuous accreditation for more than 15 years and was named as a CALEA flagship agency. Flagship departments are chosen based on their past performance as accredited law enforcement agencies and serve to provide examples to other agencies.

Accreditation for police agencies is voluntary and the Staunton Police Department has been accredited since 1985; becoming only the sixth department in the country with that distinction. In order to achieve accredited status, the police department must comply with more than 400 standards that encompass all aspects of law enforcement and administration.

The police department completed its on-site assessment in April and was recommended for reaccreditation by the Commission during their awards banquet in Montreal. The accreditation process is continuous and the police department must submit annual reports to CALEA attesting to continued compliance with the standards and will be due for their next on-site assessment in April of 2010.