HPD Earns CALEA Accreditation Renewal

The Hawai’i Police Department is one of 96 law enforcement agencies in the country that was recently evaluated for accreditation or reaccreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc.

A CALEA fall conference took place in Miami between Nov. 17 and 21, with a renewal of accreditation presented to HPD on Nov. 21. Deputy Chief Paul Ferreira and members of HPD’s Accreditation Section appeared twice before a CALEA review committee to make presentations and answer questions about the department’s policies and procedures.

The Accreditation Section of HPD includes a lieutenant, two sergeants, and a civilian clerk.

“This CALEA staff has worked tirelessly these past three years to ensure that this department would maintain its honored status of CALEA accreditation. Because of their commitment, the community can be assured that their police department meets the highest of professional law enforcement standards,” Chief Harry Kubojiri said. “I also commend all the department’s sworn officers and civilian employees for participating in the accreditation process and for embracing the CALEA standards.”

HPD initially earned accreditation three years ago in 2012. The recent reassessment was the first since the initial accreditation and included out-of-state CALEA assessors who conducted on-site assessments in July.

As part of the assessment, the team visited district police stations and facilities and examined all aspects of the department’s policies, procedures, management, operations, and support services. The team also interacted with department personnel by riding along with patrol officers and conducting interviews with sworn and civilian personnel.

Public comments in a public session and by telephone gave community members the opportunity to comment on HPD’s ability to maintain CALEA standards, and the CALEA Standards Manual was made available for public review.

Now every four years, HPD will go through the reassessment to demonstrate that it remains in compliance with more than 400 applicable CALEA standards.

HPD officials say the accreditation can limit the department’s exposure to liability risk since a team of independent outside CALEA-trained assessors have verified that the department meets internationally recognized standards.

Only about 1,200 of the near 23,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States have been awarded CALEA accreditation.