Madison Police Department receives CALEA accreditation status
HUNTSVILLE – The Madison Police Department joined an elite group of law enforcement agencies today. The department was voted into full accreditation status this morning by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). They join the 5% of the 18,000 agencies in law enforcement who have reached this milestone. Only two other agencies in North Alabama have this accreditation, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office and Huntsville Police Department.
The vote came during the CALEA conference being held in Huntsville this weekend. The Madison Police Department is one of 250 law enforcement agencies participating in the event. Law enforcement executives and supervisors from across the southeast met to attend classes that present best practices for 21st century law enforcement agencies.
CALEA was created in 1979 as a credentialing authority through joint efforts of law enforcement’s major executive associations to strengthen crime prevention and control capabilities, formalize management procedures, establish fair personnel practices, improve service delivery, solidify interagency cooperation, and increase community and staff confidence in the agency. Agencies are required to meet standards that are set by CALEA in order to achieve these goals and must provide proof that the agency has adopted the standards into policy and procedure, as well as consistently follows them.
“CALEA promotes excellence in public safety through professional standards and continuous assessment,” said Madison Police Chief David Jernigan.
