Metro News Release

For immediate release: August 12, 2004

Metro Transit Police pursue professional accreditation

It’s demanding, challenging, and voluntary to maintain as a benchmark for the Metro Transit Police Department’s commitment to professionalism in law enforcement. Still, the Metro Transit Police are seeking it once again. The Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD) is seeking to earn re-accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA). The commission is the organization that awards accreditation to law enforcement agencies both nationally and internationally. The Metro Transit Police received this honor in 2001 for a three year period. "Re-accreditation will be a substantial achievement for MTPD because it will identify our dedication to excellence in law enforcement, while placing our Metro Transit Police Department among the best in the field," said Chief of Police Polly Hanson. Re-accreditation is a long and involved process to maintain. The CALEA standards are very comprehensive. There are 445 standards that accredited agencies must adhere to, and nine law enforcement subject areas under which the Metro Transit Police will be evaluated. They are: · Role, responsibilities, and relationships with other agencies, · Organization, management and administration, · Personnel structure, · Personnel process, · Operations, · Operational support, · Traffic operations, · Prisoner and court-related activities, · Auxiliary and technical services. CALEA’s standards help to bring consistency to accredited agencies by strengthening crime prevention and control capabilities; formalizing essential management procedures; establishing fair and nondiscriminatory personnel practices; improving service delivery; solidifying interagency cooperation and coordination; and boosting citizen and staff confidence in the agency. There are five phases to be completed in the re-accreditation process: application; self-assessment; on-site assessment; commission review, and file maintenance. Metro will enter into the on-site assessment phase beginning this month, during which time an on-site evaluation team of CALEA assessors will arrive to conduct a thorough evaluation of Metro’s compliance with the organization’s standards. The evaluation consists of law enforcement officers from police agencies across the nation. During the review, evaluators will examine the department’s written materials, tour facilities, observe day-to-day activities and speak with individuals both internal and external to the organization to gather feedback. These observations will help to develop the teams final report to determine if re-accreditation should be awarded. The public will have an opportunity to provide comments about the MTPD’s ability to comply with the commission’s standards on Monday, August 16, from 6 to 8 p.m. at a public information session, at Metro headquarters, 600 Fifth Street, NW, Board Room, lobby level. Or, the public may call members of CALEA that day from 1 to 5 p.m at (202) 962-2160. Finally, interested persons may provide comments in writing to CALEA, 10306 Eaton Place, Suite 320, Fairfax, VA 22030-2201. Comments by phone or at the public session are limited to ten minutes. To review the standards, members of the public may call MTPD’s Accreditation Manager, Captain Amy Phillips at (202) 962-2194. Once the evaluation process is completed, the assessors will report back to the full commission, which in turn, will make the determination on awarding re-accreditation. If approved, accreditation will be awarded to the Metro Transit Police Department in December.

News release issued on August 12, 2004.