The Henderson Police Department won its second three-year accreditation and began working toward its 2008 renewal at the summer conference of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies last week in Boston.
“It went very well,” Police Chief Glen Allen said Tuesday of the half-week trip for the CALEA conference.
Allen, Lt. Perry Twisdale and Mayor Clem Seifert got to Boston last Wednesday, and Capt. Charles Crumpler joined them Friday. Crumpler was in charge of the reaccreditation process for the Henderson department, but Twisdale is taking over those duties.
The chief said the officers appeared before the commission Saturday and had no trouble answering the questions. “We didn’t expect any problems, based on the report. … I’d say we did real well.”
A three-member CALEA team visited Henderson in the spring and produced a detailed report that found no obstacles to renewed accreditation for the city police. The Henderson department first won CALEA accreditation in 2002.
The commission officially gave its endorsement to the Henderson police during a banquet and awards ceremony Saturday night. The large, official certificate should arrive within three weeks, Allen said.
In the days leading up to their accreditation-defending appearance before the commission, Allen and Twisdale attended seminars that should help the department maintain its good standing with CALEA.
Allen said he attended a lot of technical seminars aimed at accreditation, and Twisdale had his eyes opened about the scope of his task as the accreditation manager for the Henderson police.
For example, CALEA is preparing the fifth edition of its book of standards, Allen said. It will be the first full revision of the standards since the mid-1990s.
The conference gave Allen and Twisdale a first look at the forthcoming fifth edition. They also picked up some free computer software, including programs to help monitor compliance with CALEA standards.
“It was good, and we learned a lot,” Allen said of the conference.