Gaithersburg’s police department is about to undergo an extensive review to determine whether the 50-person force should be reaccredited by the nation’s foremost law enforcement tracking firm.
Dennis Hyater, program manager of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement, said representatives from CALEA will be in the Montgomery County jurisdiction for five days beginning Saturday, monitoring whether officers are following the hundreds of required standards.
The standards run the gamut from covering how to properly do full body searches to justifiable uses of force to ethical promotions processes that Hyater said discourage “good old boys’ networks.”
Becoming accredited is in no way a requirement for law enforcement agencies, which is why Hyater said when they do pass the comprehensive review — as nearly 400 city police departments nationally currently have — it’s a big deal.
“Would you go to a college that was not accredited? … Then you certainly shouldn’t accept an unaccredited agency whose representatives carry guns,” he said. “It’s a voluntary process, so if a chief is willing to subject their staff to the scrutiny, it shows they mean business about protecting their communities from crime.”
Gaithersburg’s department was first accredited in 1993 and has stayed up to date with the recertification process since, according to CALEA’s Web site.
Hyater said longtime Chief Mary Ann Viverette has been an instrumental figure in determining standards for the accreditation process, which is good for three years.
This time around, though, will be Viverette’s last time participating in the accreditation review, as she will retire next month.
Starting Saturday, the assessors will observe officers in the field, conduct interviews with key members of the department, and hear from the public during an information-gathering session next week.
The accreditation is good for three years. A decision on this year’s review should be announced this summer.
Besides Gaithersburg, Montgomery County’s police department and sheriff’s office have been accredited by the agency.
