Flower Mound Police Department Joins Select Group of Law Enforcement Organizations to Receive CALEA Certification

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Flower Mound Police Department Joins Select Group of Law Enforcement Organizations to Receive CALEA Certification

The Flower Mound Police Department (FMPD) was awarded one of law enforcement’s most prestigious certifications on March 26, 2011 when the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) honored the agency with Advanced Law Enforcement Accreditation.

“The fact that less than ten percent of police departments across the country have received accreditation is a testament to the hard work Captain Richard Brooks, the FMPD command staff, and the entire department put into bringing this honor home to Flower Mound,” said Kenneth Brooker, Flower Mound Police Chief.

Flower Mound is one of only 22 municipal law enforcement agencies in Texas to be honored with theAdvanced Law Enforcement Accreditation. The accreditation of the FMPD follows almost three years worth of work completed by FMPD personnel to ensure the department’s standard operating procedures, policies, and actions are consistent with CALEA standards. The FMPD notified CALEA in June 2008 of its intent to seek accreditation and immediately conducted the initial phase of self-assessment.

CALEA’s standards address nine major law enforcement subjects including role, responsibilities, and relationships with other agencies; organization, management, and administration; personnel structure; personnel process; law enforcement operations; operations support; traffic operations; detainee and court-related services; and auxiliary and technical services.

In unanimously awarding accreditation to the FMPD, CALEA officials cited well-defined policies and procedures, the community policing program, the Citizen Public Safety Patrol, and the strength of the department’s employees and their commitment to the community as outstanding attributes.

During the self-assessment phase of the accreditation process, the department reviewed all applicable CALEA standards and adjusted its own policies and procedures as necessary. In total, the FMPD complied with 464 CALEA standards. A team of CALEA assessors visited Flower Mound in December 2010 to conduct an on-site assessment of all FMPD procedures and policies, and review regulation compliance.

The assessors also toured all Flower Mound law enforcement facilities, inspected equipment currently in use by the department, and accompanied officers who were patrolling the Town to observe public interaction. In addition, the FMPD hosted a public forum that was attended by the CALEA representatives and members of the community including a local pastor, the director of Youth and Family Counseling of Denton County, and the City of Lewisville Police Chief.

Flower Mound’s Chief of Police and several FMPD captains testified regarding the agency’s compliance to applicable standardsin a committee hearing before the CALEA accreditation committee on March 26 in Bethesda, Maryland. After a recommendation of approval by the committee and a vote of affirmation by the entire CALEA commission, the Flower Mound Police Department was awarded a three-year advanced accreditation during a formal ceremony on March 26.

The fourth stage in CALEA’s accreditation process includes the maintaining of compliance, and reaccreditation. The FMPD will maintain compliance with applicable standards, operate by the letter and spirit of those standards during the accreditation period, and seek reaccreditation in three years. Reaccreditation requires an additional on-site assessment and a subsequent hearing before the Commission.

CALEA was created in 1979 to strengthen crime prevention and control capabilities, improve law enforcement service delivery, and increase community and staff confidence in local police departments. The organization does this by maintaining a body of standards developed by public safety practitioners, covering a wide range of up-to-date public safety initiatives, and recognizing professional excellence.

Posted 03/29/2011.