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The Boston College Police Department has been formally accredited by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission, making BCPD the state’s ninth campus law enforcement department to receive accreditation.
To qualify, BCPD demonstrated compliance with more than 280 national standards and “best practices” through its policies and procedures, and was given an on-site review – in areas such as patrol operations, administrative procedures, recruitment, training, victim assistance, discipline and fiscal management – last November by the commission, which recommended accreditation.
“The journey to accreditation began over three years ago, and we achieved an earlier milestone of certification in April of 2013,” said Public Safety Director and BC Police Chief John King, who praised BCPD Accreditation Manager Lt. Laurene Spiess for her in-depth knowledge of accreditation requirements and her preparation of the department for the formal assessment.
“Nearly every member of the BCPD staff contributed to the achievement of accreditation, either through researching or writing policies or by providing important feedback during policy comment periods. Every member of the department can take great pride in the fact that BCPD has been evaluated against a body of professional standards.”
The department will remained accredited for a three-year period and will be required to ensure that all policies and procedures are reviewed on a scheduled basis, and that new policies meet relevant standards.