As part of its commitment to Nashvillians to continuously strive for enhanced professionalism and law enforcement excellence in public safety and community engagement, the MNPD next week will host assessors from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA), who will examine the department's policies and procedures, management, operations, and support services.
The department is seeking to maintain its accredited status, which was first bestowed in July 1994, and renewed in 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017, and 2021. Verification by the inspection team that the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department continues to meet the Commission's state-of-the-art standards is part of a voluntary process signifying nationally recognized excellence.
"For more than three decades, our police department has been committed to ensuring that our practices and operations continue to meet CALEA standards that necessarily evolve over time," Chief John Drake said. "By doing so, we can most effectively serve this community and uphold our three core pillars of Organizational Excellence, Community Engagement, and Precision Policing.
To achieve and maintain accreditation status, the MNPD must comply with 463 specific professional standards. Reaccreditation is a thorough and demanding process, and successful completion demonstrates that our policies, practices, and procedures align with the highest levels of law enforcement professionalism.
Accreditation follows a four-year cycle, during which the MNPD must maintain electronic records to prove compliance. These records are reviewed remotely each year, culminating in a site-based assessment in the fourth year.
The two-member team will begin its work on Monday, March 3. Assessment team members assigned to review the MNPD are:
- Superintendent Susan Maycock (retired) of the Peel Regional Police Department (Ontario), and
- Chief LJ Roscoe of the Goose Creek, South Carolina Police Department.
After completing their review of the department, the assessors will report to the full Commission, which then determines whether to grant reaccreditation.
CALEA has developed a public access portal through which community members can provide comments about the MNPD's service to our city and its commitment to constantly strive to be a model American law enforcement agency. The comment portal can be found at this link.
Important: This portal belongs to CALEA, not the MNPD. CALEA is not an investigatory body and subsequently the public portal should not be used to submit information for such purposes. There will be no response to portal submissions other than acknowledgement by CALEA that a submission was received. However, any information received will be considered in the context of the department being able to continue meeting the state-of-the-art standards adopted by CALEA.