CALEA
Law Enforcement Accreditation
Law Enforcement Accreditation provides an opportunity for the Conover Police Department to demonstrate voluntarily that it meets professionally-recognized criteria for excellence in management and service-delivery. The Department was first accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) in 2004. The process is much like accreditation for colleges and universities and for medical institutions requiring adherence to standards of performance that prescribe "what" agencies should be doing, but not "how" they should be doing it. That decision is left up to our agency and the Chief of Police.
The standards were developed to help law enforcement agencies achieve the following:
- Increase agency capabilities to prevent and control crime
- Enhance agency effectiveness and efficiency
- Improve cooperation and coordination with other law enforcement agencies and with other components of the criminal justice system
- Increase citizen and staff confidence in the goals, objectives, policies, and practices of the agency
There are a wide variety of both direct and intangible benefits the Department receives in its association with this management tool. A few are described here:
- Controlled liability exposure
- Greater accountability
- Increased community advocacy
- Improved employee morale
To receive additional information about accreditation, please contact the CPD Accreditation Manager, Sergeant Stephen Bumgarner or connect to the CALEA home page at CALEA Homepage
CALEA Accreditation Public Comment Portal
The Conover Police Department participates in the CALEA Law Enforcement Accreditation process. As a part of this process, we provide an opportunity for public feedback via the CALEA Portal open year round which can be located here: CALEA PORTAL
The purpose of this public portal is to receive comments regarding our compliance with CALEA standards, engagement in the service community, delivery of public safety services, and overall candidacy for accreditation status. These comments can be in the form of commendations or concerns. The overall intent of the accreditation process is to provide our agency with information to support continuous improvement, as well as foster our pursuit of professional excellence.
It is important to know that CALEA is not an investigatory body and subsequently, the public portal should not be used to submit information for such purposes. Additionally, there will be no response other than acknowledgement to submissions; however, the information will be considered in context to its relevancy to compliance with standards and the tenets of CALEA® Accreditation.
Standard titles for Law Enforcement may be viewed on the CALEA website: Law Enforcement - Standards Titles | CALEA® | The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc.
Questions related to the accreditation process may be directed to the Accreditation Manager.