Accreditation

The City of Carbondale Police Department is comprised of 68 sworn officers, eight telecommunicators, and 16 civilians who serve the city’s population of 25,571. Home to Southern Illinois University Carbondale, our population increases by approximately 20,000 students each semester when classes are in session.

On July 21, 1991, The City of Carbondale Police Department became the Nation’s 182nd Nationally Accredited Agency through The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). The Department has been re-accredited four additional times since receiving the initial award. In July 2007, the City of Carbondale Police Department achieved Meritorious Accreditation status, an honor less than 150 international agencies have received. The Commission stated, "The City of Carbondale, Illinois Police Department has fully demonstrated its voluntary commitment to law enforcement excellence by living up to a body of standards deemed essential to the protection of life, health, safety and rights of the citizens it serves, and having exemplified the best professional practices in the conduct of its responsibilities for over fifteen years and is hereby upon the recommendation of the members of the Commission awarded the Certificate of Meritorious Accreditation."

The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., (CALEA) was created in 1979 as a credentialing authority through the joint efforts of law enforcement's major executive associations, including:  International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP); National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE); National Sheriffs' Association (NSA); and the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF).

The Law Enforcement Accreditation Program was the first credentialing program established by CALEA after its founding. It was originally development to address what was seen as a need to enhance law enforcement as a profession and to improve law enforcement. That mission continues today. The program is open to all types of law enforcement agencies, on an international basis. It provides a process to systematically conduct an internal review and assessment of the agencies’ policies and procedures, and make adjustments wherever necessary to meet a body of internationally accepted standards.

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 researchers. 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 Program as benchmarks for today’s law enforcement agency. 

The purpose of CALEA’s Accreditation Programs is to improve the delivery of public safety services, primarily by: maintaining a body of standards, developed by public safety practitioners, covering a wide range of up-to-date public safety initiatives; establishing and administering an accreditation process; and recognizing professional excellence. Specifically, CALEA’s goals are to strengthen crime prevention and control capabilities, formalize essential management procedures, establish fair and nondiscriminatory personnel practices, improve service delivery, solidify interagency cooperation and coordination, and increase community and staff confidence in the agency.

The Benefits of being accredited through CALEA include:

• Greater Accountability within the Department--CALEA Standards give the Chief Executive Officer a proven management system of written directives, sound training, clearly defined lines of authority, and routine reports that support decision-making and resource allocation.
• Reduced risk and liability exposure--Many agencies report a reduction in their liability insurance costs and/or reimbursement of accreditation fees.
• Stronger defense against civil lawsuits--Accredited agencies are better able to defend themselves against civil lawsuits. Also, many agencies report a decline in legal actions against them, once they become accredited.
• Staunch support from government officials--Accreditation provides objective evidence of an agency's commitment to excellence in leadership, resource management, and service-delivery. Thus, government officials are more confident in the agency's ability to operate efficiently and meet community needs.
• Increased 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.