Professionalism, stewardship, integrity, diversity, independence, continuous improvement, objectivity, credibility, consistency, knowledge, experience, accountability, and collaboration are the primary cornerstones that distinguishes CALEA from all other forms of public safety accreditation. |
|
Message from the Chair
 | |
Louis M. Dekmar
|
Moving Forward
Over the past several years CALEA® has diligently focused on remaining relevant as an effective improvement strategy for contemporary public safety agencies. To this end, it is often said those that are not moving forward are falling behind. The concept of accreditation as a tool for continuous agency improvement requires a degree of adherence to proven methodologies to ensure the respective process maintains its credibility and reliability. This tug-of-war between these two perspectives can create a great deal of angst for those directly involved in CALEA® Accreditation, thereby making some skeptical about changes and others simply resistant. Read more.
|
CALEA® Accreditation Using PowerDMS™
One Agency's Experience 
Christine Goracke, Accreditation Manager
Charlotte County Sheriff's Office
Punta Gorda, Florida
Times are changing and technology is dominating every facet of our profession, to include the management of the accreditation process. We all strive to be progressive and innovative, while being mindful of the impact these changes might have on those intimidated by new technology. The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office was initially CALEA® Law Enforcement Accredited in 1991, back in the day when there were over nine hundred standards and accreditation managers built their accreditation files using upwards of twenty-six various colored highlighters. Your accreditation files looked more like a bowl of Fruit Loops than a professional document. Read more. |
Better Than 'Good Enough'
Overcoming Obstacles to CALEA®
Comm Center Accreditation
By Stephen Martini
Originally published in the August 2012 issue of Public Safety Communications and posted with permission of APCO International.
The myth: CALEA accreditation for the communications center is too costly, too time consuming and requires too much work to even get started. The reality: PSAPs around the country continue to overcome these very obstacles time and again, at an average rate of four to five comm centers per year, since the program began in 1993. CALEA has seen 13% growth over the past four years. As of March 2012, 85 PSAPs are CALEA accredited. Read more. |
 Final Notice on Transition to PowerDMS™ for CALEA® Publications
NOTE TO CALEA CLIENTS: Please be sure you can access the CALEA publications through PowerDMS™ now; if you are experiencing any problems, contact your regional program manager for assistance.
Over the past 18 months CALEA® has worked to streamline the delivery of its publications to clients and others needing these resources. This includes the CALEA Standards for Law Enforcement Agencies, CALEA Standards for Public Safety Communications Agencies, CALEA Standards for Public Safety Training Academies, and CALEA Standards for Campus Security, as well as the CALEA Process and Programs Guide. Collectively these resources provide the information needed to administer the CALEA Accreditation process within any qualifying public safety agency.
In August 2011, the Commission moved to an electronic model of the delivery and updating of all CALEA publications. Every client agency was provided a specific URL internet platform address for access to all the CALEA publications and a one year transition period was established for clients to become accustom to this new delivery format. During this time, information classes have been provided at every CALEA Conference, special training at PAC meetings has taken place, web-based classes have been offered, tutorials through the host company have been provided, and staff has been available for questions.
It is important to know the traditional printed Change Notices for publication updates will no longer be provided by CALEA. It is understood that some users of the publications prefer paper versions; however, with the advances in technology, the electronic versions of CALEA publications provide a number of advantages including: quicker delivery of changes, tracking of changes over revisions, informational links included within the resource, serves as a platform for a more robust accreditation management system, and allows for greatly expanded staff access for the entire agency. Additionally, the new system works to reduce pagination and indexing errors within the printed versions and it provides search features that are extremely useful. The electronic platform also provides all of the publications to clients under one access to support those seeking multiple accreditations. Overall, the electronic format is much more timely and effective with a reduced operational cost.
We look forward to the opportunities this more effective service brings and we want clients to recognize this is an important progression to ensure CALEA remains the Gold Standard for Public Safety Agencies. |
Fall 2012 CALEA Conference
in Jacksonville, Florida
The Fall 2012 CALEA Conference will be held November 14-17 at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville-Riverfront
Register online at the CALEA website Conferences link and continue to visit the site for conference updates and host information from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. The latest Workshops listings and the Conference Agenda have been posted. |
CALEA is Tweeting in Jacksonville 
Travis Parrish, President
Parrish Strategic Solutions
Status updates, liking, friending, tweeting, Hashtags... These terms are second nature for some and a mystery to others. CALEA joined the Facebook community in late-2011 and just prior to this year's summer conference in Scottsdale began tweeting as CALEA_Org on Twitter.
Most people understand the personal, conversational, fun side of Facebook, Twitter and the many other social communication tools that exist today. It is the business use that non-consumer companies and organizations continue to struggle with on a daily basis. In simple terms, these communications tools allow like-minded communities to form and share relevant information. That's it. The information is contained and allows for ongoing discussion and information sharing.
The CALEA Facebook community should be a community of ideas, best practices and information sharing. Twitter is a communication vehicle for short bursts of information or links to articles, resources, etc. Using a hashtag - # helps segment out specific information and tweets. During the conference, Twitter is a great way to share information. Not everyone can make every session, but using the hashtag #CALEA_Conf attendees can share links, key session information, and ideas. Twitter also becomes a great resource for conference updates, daily schedules, announcements, etc. Attendees can use #CALEA_Conf to schedule meet-ups for networking or social events.
Whether you are an active Facebook and/or Twitter user or not, take a look at both and plan to follow @CALEA_Org and #CALEA_Conf during the fall conference. Follow CALEA on Facebook and Twitter.
|
CALEA Commissioner and Staff News
Commissioner Appointments
At a recent meeting of the executive directors of CALEA's four founding associations ─ 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) ─ five CALEA Commissioners were re-appointed to another 3-year term beginning January 2013. They are Commissioners: Gary W. Cordner, Don C. Hunter, Gary J. Margolis, Daniel C. Parkinson, and Craig Webre.
A new commissioner was selected to replace retiring Commissioner James N. Robey. Selected was the Honorable
Edward R. "Eddie" Tallon, Sr., District 33, House of Representatives, State of South Carolina, who will begin a three- year term on January 1, 2013.
Representative Tallon was elected in November 2010 and serves on the House Judiciary Committee and Criminal Laws Subcommittee. He is also president of the Tallon Group, a consulting company, and is a retired lieutenant, supervisory special agent of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. He holds a Bachelor's degree in sociology from Limestone College, South Carolina, and is a U.S. Air Force veteran. He is a life member of IACP and a life member and past president of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers' Association, as well as a member of the Certified Fraud Examiner Association, among others. Representative Tallon will attend the Fall CALEA Conference in Jacksonville, Florida.
Congratulations to all the re-appointed Commissioners and welcome to Representative Tallon.
Commissioner James N. Roby
The Chesapeake Region Law Enforcement Accreditation Alliance (CRLEAA) PAC recognized CALEA Commissioner James Robey, Senator, 13th District of Maryland, at its September meeting for his service and dedication as a CALEA Commissioner. Senator Robey's term as a Commissioner will end December 2012 after serving on the Board of Commissioners for the past 9 years.
Pictured left to right: Pam McKay, CRLEAA PAC President; Chief John Fitzgerald, Chevy Chase (MD) Police Department; Commissioner James Robey; Sheriff Darren Popkin, Montgomery Co. (MD) Sheriff's Office; and Maya Mitchell, CALEA Regional Program Manager.
Commission Theron L. Bowman
Congratulations to Commissioner Theron Bowman, Chief of Police, Arlington, Texas, who has been named Deputy City Manager for the City of Arlington; he will begin his new position immediately. He will oversee the Neighborhood Services team which includes Police, Fire, Parks and Recreation, Library, and Code Compliance. Commissioner Bowman began his career in law enforcement in 1983 and had been chief since 1999. The City of Arlington is a CALEA TRI-ARC Excellence Award recipient.
Staff News
CALEA Regional Program Manager Steve Mitchell will be attending the Essex County (MA) Chiefs of Police Association Conference in Danvers, MA on Wednesday, November 7, 2012.
|
|
Agency News
Click Here to view the latest CEO Changes
PAC News
For a list of accreditation support networks click Here
Career Opportunities
The latest job announcements are posted on the CALEA Website. Click Here to view the postings.
|
|
Change Notices
The latest Change Notices for the printed law enforcement (5.14), communications (2.10), and training academy (2.5) manuals are posted on the CALEA® website and can be located under the Clients tab. These are the final Change Notices that will be provided in support of the printed publications, as all CALEA clients have been provided access to the PowerDMS™ platform for CALEA electronic publications.
CALEA Accreditation Compliance Express (CACE)
Agencies with a current CACE Users Service Agreement can schedule one-on-one webniar training on any version of the CACE software with CALEA Information Technology Coordinator Linda Phillips. Contact Linda at lphillips@calea.org.
|
Comminications Open Channel
 William Carrow
APCO International Past President
 Editorial Note: As a CALEA Partner, APCO International pens the Communications Open Channel column, which focuses on topics of interest to our clients, particularly those in the Public Safety Communications Accreditation Program.
APCO Pro-CHRT Report Reveals Major Increase in Public Safety Agencies Seeking Training Certification
Three years ago APCO created a taskforce to study the many variables that are plaguing America's communications centers. The Pro-CHRT taskforce, officially established as a committee in July 2012, released an updated "Year-Three Special Edition Report" at the annual APCO Conference in Minneapolis in August 2012.
The year-three report found that, while just a handful of states require any form of minimum training to perform these mission critical jobs, public safety agencies are taking up the charge of ensuring their training programs are the best they can be. In August, 18 agencies had their communications basic training programs certified as meeting the APCO Project 33 training standard, an all-time high for any year. This raises the total to 35 agencies certified since 2007, the majority occurring over the past three years. Read more.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
CALEA CALENDAR
|
|
CALEA's Partner for
Electronic Compliance Management Solutions
| |
|
CALEA's Partner for Online Training | |
|
|
All proceeds from the CALEA Store benefit the CALEA Accreditation Support Program. |
| |
Join Us on FaceBook
|
|
|
