Dear Editor:
During the week of Nov. 9, our Department underwent an exhaustive law enforcement audit. This audit was conducted by a team of police professionals that are assessors with the Commission on Law Enforcement Accreditation, or CALEA.
Ever since the first CALEA Accreditation Award was granted in 1984, the program has become the primary method for an agency to voluntarily demonstrate their commitment to excellence in law enforcement. The standards upon which the Law Enforcement Accreditation Program is based reflect the current thinking and experience of law enforcement practitioners and embody best practices in modern law enforcement.
Major law enforcement associations, leading educational and training institutions, governmental agencies, as well as law enforcement executives internationally, acknowledge CALEA’s Standards for Law Enforcement Agencies and its Accreditation Programs as benchmarks for professional law enforcement agencies.
Our audit involved a comprehensive review of our Department’s policies, procedures and operations. Over the course of several days, the auditors reviewed 484 CALEA standards. The audit team ensured our department adopted and followed law enforcement best practices.
Although our Department has been accredited since 1992, this audit resulted in our best review in many years. Less than 2 percent of the audited files required additional information and our Department was compliant with all applicable standards. Sgt. Christian Gray, our accreditation manager, is to be commended for his efforts in preparing our agency for this audit.
The lead CALEA assessor commented that our Department was “one of the best” if not “the best” Police Department he has ever audited. This is quite a complement given that this assessor has been auditing police departments for over sixteen years, has decades of law enforcement experience, and has reviewed in excess of thirty police departments both within the United States and internationally.
Our Department is proud to be one of only two CALEA accredited police departments in Fairfield County. Notably, only 13 percent of police departments in Connecticut are CALEA accredited, and less than 5 percent of all police departments across the United States are CALEA accredited.
The accreditation process is no small feat and is very labor intensive. However, being an accredited police department has many benefits aside from knowing that our Department is following law enforcement best practices.
- Reduced Risk and Liability Exposure: Most agencies experience a reduction in liability insurance costs.
- Stronger Defense Against Civil Lawsuits: Accredited agencies are better able to defend against civil lawsuits.
- Greater Accountability within the Agency: CALEA standards give an agency the tools which support smart decision-making and resource allocation.
- Support from Government Officials Based on Objective Evidence: Accreditation gives government officials confidence in their agency’s abilities to operate and meet community needs.
- Enhanced Community Advocacy: Accreditation embodies the precepts of community-oriented policing. It creates a forum in which law enforcement agencies and citizens work together to prevent and control challenges confronting law enforcement and provides clear direction about community expectations.
Our Department’s mission statement is: “To Protect and Serve our community with courage, professionalism and integrity.” While we know that our officers fulfill this mission each and every day we now have affirmative proof, from an independent assessment team, that we are fulfilling our mission.
When the public asks what we are thankful for, we often tell them that we are most thankful for the quality, compassion and professionalism of our officers. In our opinion there is no better Police Department in the nation. We now have objective evidence as a result of our law enforcement audit that our opinion is fact-based.
When you see our officers, thank them for what they do, the risks that they take, and the way in which they so professionally “protect and serve” our Town.
Sincerely,
Leon Krolikowski, Chief of Police
Congratulations to all members of our New Canaan Police Department for this singular achievement. This assessment process takes a great deal of extra work on everyone’s part to make it happen and to achieve an excellent result. We can all be proud, and, yes, we should all be thankful for the ‘quality, compassion and professionalism’ of our Force. Special kudos go to Sgt Gray for his performance in preparation and to Chief Krolikowski for his leadership of this important effort.