CALEA® is dedicated to the improvement of public safety agencies and recognizes excellence through voluntary credentialing programs.

CALEA® encourages all public safety agencies to accept the challenge of international accreditation/recognition.

Message from the Chair
 Jim O'Dell
After more than a year of development and planning, the creation of the CALEA Agency Support Fund (CASF) was announced at the 2003 CALEA Summer Conference. The purpose of the CASF is to award grants to smaller law enforcement, public safety communications, and public safety training agencies seeking initial accreditation, which would not otherwise be financially able to do so.   more

SRIC Focus Group Deliberations Continue
The 2003-2004 Standards Review and Interpretation Committee Focus Group, created at the July 2003 CALEA Conference in Detroit, Michigan, held its second general meeting in Pasadena, California, before the start of the March CALEA Conference. The Focus Group’s purpose, as part of a periodic five-year review, is two-fold: to undertake a review of all existing law enforcement standards in terms of clarity and current relevance; and to review the accreditation process and improve upon it wherever necessary.  more

CALLING 3-1-1

Columbia’s 3-1-1 Non-Emergency Call Center 
The City of Columbia, South Carolina, launched its 3-1-1 Call Center in August 2002 as a division of the Columbia-Richland Communications Center. After conducting a feasibility study, Columbia’s city leaders decided to invest in a call center dedicated to addressing quality-of-life issues for this historic, metropolitan city and state capital. Columbia’s 3-1-1 Call Center, the first in the Carolinas, functions as a gateway to information for residents and visitors to this diverse community. The center serves to enhance and support all city departments by relieving them from answering frequently asked questions about city activities and events, and also by serving as the clearinghouse for request for service calls. more

Name the Award —Win $100 CALEA Certificate
The CALEA Commissioners’ Awards Committee is considering the creation of a new award. It will recognize the outstanding accomplishments of agencies that achieve, and simultaneously maintain, all three CALEA Accreditations: Law Enforcement, Public Safety Communications, and Public Safety Training Academy. While this situation has not yet occurred, it is anticipated that this unique feat will be accomplished, and we want to be prepared! more

Exemplary Project
PROJECT LIFESAVER  
When a person is missing or lost, it takes a great toll on many people: the family, law enforcement, and the community itself. The effects can be magnified when the person is either mentally disabled or memory-impaired, and unable to help him or herself. In addition to the required resources necessary to resolve these cases, the more time taken to locate an individual, adds to the potential for injury or death. Forty-six percent of lost memory-impaired adults not located within 24 hours, die, typically succumbing to hypothermia or dehydration. more

In March 2004, the Commission experienced one of the world’s greatest pleasures: springtime in beautiful, sunny southern California. With the grand San Gabriel Mountains as a backdrop, the conference city, Pasadena, was truly a wonderful and vibrant location. This is not the first time the Commission has held a conference in Pasadena.  Some of you might remember back in 1996 when CALEA visited Pasadena for the first time. That conference was a success and our most recent affair was even better. more

CALEA to Honor Accreditation Leaders
At its 25^th Anniversary Conference, December 1-4, 2004 in Austin, Texas, CALEA will honor agency CEOs who, over the years, have been leaders in accreditation. During the past year a committee of CALEA Commissioners, chaired by Commissioner John LaFlamme, developed two continuing special awards.  more  

First Mexican Agency Recognized 
On March 20, 2004, the Seguridad Publica Municipal Ayuntamiento de Chihuahua (Municipal Police of Chihuahua) became the first Mexican law enforcement agency to receive an award from CALEA. This further adds to the international flavor of the Commission, now with accredited or recognized agencies in four countries: the United States, Canada, Barbados, and Mexico. more

Click here for a list of agencies accredited, reaccredited, and recognized in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

WELCOME TO CALEA
Between January 1, 2004 and April 30, 2004, the following agencies joined the CALEA family by signing initial contracts: more

Analysis and Intelligence Driven Enforcement—The Future for Law Enforcement and Homeland Security
The future of law enforcement is here. Technology, experience, education, and CALEA Accreditation provide law enforcement with opportunities and guidelines to effectively target crime and improve homeland security through the use of analysis and intelligence. For years, agencies have endeavored to standardize practices pertaining to personnel, training, operations, prisoners, traffic, and victim services, often by employing CALEA Standards. However, two of the shortest chapters in CALEA’s Standards for Law Enforcement Agencies, 4^th Edition are garnering significant international attention, partially due to the tragic events of September 11, 2001. more

Your Commissioner-Eduardo Gonzalez
Eduardo (Eddie) Gonzalez was born in Tampa, Florida and moved to Miami after graduation from high school. He joined the Air Force in 1960 and served as an air policeman. Eddie had thoughts of becoming a police officer, and while working as a clerk in a liquor store, the experience of being the victim of a store robbery and shooting at the robbers, convinced him to join the Miami-Dade Police Department in 1965. more

New Standard for Law Enforcement Accreditation Program
After a year and four months of consideration, modification, and debate, CALEA Commissioners adopted a new standard concerning mental illness, along with a new glossary term. The standard is in effect now and agencies must be in compliance by March 19, 2005. more

PROTECTING OUR NATION’S LIVING MARINE RESOURCES
NOAA Fisheries Office for Law Enforcement
Cruising west past Lime Kiln Lighthouse along the southern shore of San Juan Island, Special Agent John Bowyer scans the horizon for “the boats.”  As Patrol Boat-6 bounces around another corner, several dozen white dots bob across the sheer water in the distance. “We’ve found the pod!” The pod, being a large group of Orca whales hunting salmon in these rich Washington waters. The white dots are the whale watch boats, fishing boats and pleasure craft that move in to catch a glimpse of these four-ton creatures. more

"Accreditation Works" presents first-hand testimonies of how accreditation positively affects an agency or community. These success stories can often go unheralded, so send your experiences to CALEA to be included. more

Working With You

Rhonda joined the CALEA staff in March 2004, after a 27-year career in retail management and as a program assistant with the United Negro College Fund in the Washington Metropolitan region. more

CALEA’s 25^th Anniversary Celebration is Announced

Mark your calendars! Austin, Texas…December 1-4, 2004. The Commission will celebrate its 25^th Anniversary at the Fall CALEA Conference, and make no mistake; it will be a Texas-style celebration. more

Prisoner Transportation
Some confusion exists between Standard 71.4.1: Vehicles used primarily for transporting prisoners must have the driver separated from the prisoner by a safety barrier, and Standard 71.4.2: If prisoners are routinely transported alone in the rear of agency vehicles, the rear compartments are modified to minimize opportunities for exit without the aid of the transporting officer. more