Henderson is a good bet to keep its international police accreditation, Police Chief Glen Allen says.
“I’m act thrilled with the way the on-site visit went,” Allen said Thursday, the day after a three-person assessment team from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies completed its work. “It was better than expected.”
City Manager Eric Williams heard an oral version of the team’s report from the visit. “The report I got is that they were very much impressed,” he said. “They were generally very complimentary.”
Williams said he expects to see a written report from the CALEA in four to six weeks and will release it to the Vance Organization to Implement Community Excellence. “I really want to get the information out and lay everything on the table.”
The on-site assessment was one of the final steps toward the city Police Department keeping its CALEA accreditation, a voluntary program to ensure police operate with the best policies and procedures and meet more than 400 standards.
Henderson first received accreditation in 2002. It is one of 26 CALEA-accredited municipal police departments in North Carolina.
Allen said reaccreditation is more difficult in one respect: The initial accreditation involves promising to do things; reaccreditation requires proof that the police did those things.
The CALEA team found few things to question, Allen said, and it almost always confirmed that police were in compliance. He said the assessors’ suggestions led to a few minor policy changes, such as the documentation of probationary employees’ training and the compilation of better end-of-year reports on traffic accidents through the addition of traffic data the city already gathers.
Those are examples of how the CALEA process improves the Police Department, Allen said. “It just helps to have another set of eyes.”
The assessment team held a public hearing Monday night to allow people to comment about the Police Department and its ability to meet CALEA standards.
Four people attended the hearing. Two spoke in favor of the police, and two criticized the police.
The team also took comments on a telephone hot line Monday. Allen said about 20 people called, and all but one were positive.
“When a major part of your job involves arresting people, it stands to reason that there are those who are not going to be happy with everything you’re doing,” Allen said.
The chief said the assessment team was looking for comments that addressed CALEA standards. In the case of complaints related to specific incidents, the assessors checked how police actions fit with policies. The assessors had access to Internal Affairs files while they were here.
Nothing the assessment team found or said gave the chief any cause for concern regarding the accreditation.
“I feel confident” that the commission will reaccredit the Henderson police for three more years, Allen said. The official announcement should come in July.