HPD Receives Renewed CALEA Accreditation

The Hawaiʻi Police Department earned a renewal of its accreditation status with the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc, also known as CALEA.

The accreditation renewal was announced Nov. 16 at the CALEA fall conference in Covington, Kentucky, where the Hawaiʻi Police Department was one of 122 law enforcement agencies being evaluated for accreditation or reaccreditation.

During the conference, Police Chief Paul Ferreira and members of the police department’s Accreditation Section appeared before a CALEA review committee to make presentations and answer questions about the department’s programs and outcomes.

Following the presentations, the commission decided to reaccredit Hawai‘i Police Department.

The members of the department’s Accreditation Section that were responsible for this successful outcome are Lt. Regino Saludares, Sgt. Travis Ing, Sgt. Matthew Bartz and Clerk III Charisse Correia.

“These individuals have worked tirelessly these past four years to ensure that this department would maintain its honored status of CALEA accreditation, which validates to the community that our department is following national standards and best practices,” Ferreira said. “It supports our commitment to the community in providing the highest quality police services. I also want to commend all of the department’s sworn and non-sworn employees for their commitment to and support of the CALEA process; without which we would not have achieved reaccreditation.”

In 2018, 900 law enforcement agencies were accredited out of the roughly 23,000 departments in the US.

Hawai‘i Police Department was initially awarded accreditation seven years ago, and was reaccredited on Nov. 21, 2015. This continued process required department personnel to review and—when necessary—revise the department’s general orders, policies and procedures to ensure they all met CALEA standards.

This year’s reassessment included annual file reviews as well as a team of out-of-state certified CALEA assessors to conduct a site-based assessment in August. The team visited district police stations and facilities and examined all aspects of the department while focusing on department programs and their outcomes and effectiveness.

The team interacted with department personnel by riding along with patrol officers and conducting interviews with sworn and civilian personnel. Various community leaders were also interviewed.

During the site-based assessment, the team took comments from the public in a public session and by telephone to give members of the community an opportunity to comment on the department’s ability to maintain CALEA standards. The CALEA Standards Manual was made available for public review.

The department will continue to undergo annual file reviews, and site-based assessments every four years by CALEA to demonstrate that it remains in compliance with more than 400 applicable CALEA standards.

Being CALEA accredited can limit the department’s exposure to liability risk because accreditation demonstrates that a team of independent outside CALEA-trained assessors has verified that the department meets internationally recognized standards. CALEA Accreditation will also assist in the department’s relentless pursuit of professional excellence and its commitment to its community with the highest quality of public safety service.

Established in 1979, CALEA was established as a credentialing authority through the joint efforts of major law enforcement executive associations such as the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, National Sheriff’s Association and the Police Executive Research Forum.

The goals of CALEA are to improve the delivery of public safety services by developing and maintaining a body of standards, establishing and administering an accreditation process for law enforcement agencies, and recognizing professional excellence in public safety.