According to the Salina Police Department, a team of assessors from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies will be in Salina on Sunday to examine all aspects of the departments policies and practices. As a part of the on-site assessment, agency employees and members of the community are invited to offer comments at a public meeting on Monday, March 21, 2016, at 7 p.m. The session will be conducted at the Chamber of Commerce, Visit Salina Annex, room A, located at 120 W. Ash, Salina, Kansas.

Full News Release:
Salina, Kansas, March 14, 2016,– A team of assessors from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA), will arrive Sunday, March 20, 2016, to examine all aspects of the Salina Police Department’s policies and procedures, management, operations, and support services, Chief Brad L. Nelson announced today. The Salina Police Department was initially accredited in March of 1996 and most recently received re-accredited status in March of 2013. After the assessment team completes its on-site inspection, department members will appear before the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies in July of 2016 and, if approved by the commission, the department will receive the prestigious award for a seventh time.

Verification by the team that the Salina Police Department meets the commission’s state-of -the-art standards is part of a voluntary process to gain accreditation, ?A highly prized recognition of law enforcement professional excellence.? Nelson said.

As a part of the on-site assessment, agency employees and members of the community are invited to offer comments at a public information session on Monday, March 21, 2016, at 7 p.m. The session will be conducted at the Chamber of Commerce, Visit Salina Annex, room A, located at 120 W. Ash, Salina, Kansas.

If for some reason an individual cannot speak at the public information session but would still like to provide comments to the assessment team, he/she may do so by telephone.  The public may call (785) 819-2288 or (785) 819-2292 on Monday, March 21, 2016 between the hours of 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Telephone comments as well as appearances at the public information session are limited to 10 minutes and must address the agency’s ability to comply with CALEA’s standards.  A copy of the standards is available at the Salina Police Department.  The local contact is Captain Paul Forrester, (785) 826-7210.

Persons wishing to offer written comments about the Salina Police Department’s ability to meet the standards for accreditation are requested to write: Commission Accreditation for Law Enforcement, Inc. (CALEA), 13575 Heathcote Boulevard, Suite 320, Gainsville, Virginia, 20155.

?Accreditation has provided us with a nationally tested framework within which we have improved systematically the operations of the department,? said Chief Nelson.  ?Although accreditation has been a major undertaking that has required considerable commitment of departmental energies and talent, it has most certainly made us better for the effort, and more professional for the accomplishment.?

Captain Forrester, accreditation manager for the Salina Police Department, said the assessment team is composed of law enforcement practitioners from similar, but out-of-state agencies.  The assessors are Retired Chief of Police, Rick Barnhart from the West Carrollton Police Department in West Carrollton, Ohio and Laura Saunders with the Burlington North Carolina Police Department in Burlington, North Carolina.

The assessors will review written materials, interview individuals, and visit offices and other places where compliance can be witnessed. ?Once the commission’s assessors complete their review of the agency, they report back to the full commission, which will then decide if the agency is to be granted re-accredited status,? Forrester stated.

Accreditation is granted for three years, during which time the agency must submit annual reports attesting continued compliance with those standards under which they were initially accredited.  The process will be going to a four year cycle with yearly reviews.

For more information regarding the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement, Inc., please write the commission at 13575 Heathcote Boulevard, Suite 320, Gainsville, Virginia, 220155; or call (703) 352-4225.