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Communications Accreditation Dual CALEA Law Enforcement and Public Safety Communications Accreditation It is important to understand that the Public Safety Communications Accreditation Program (PSCAP) is not secondary to the Law Enforcement Accreditation™ Program. It is a totally independent accreditation program that requires all applicable PSCAP standards to be met. Agencies that seek dual accreditation must consider that compliance with two sets of standards has the potential to cause significant problems. The CALEA staff has received a number of inquires into the possibility of dual law enforcement and communications accreditation. At the Knoxville, Tennessee, Commission meeting (November 1998), CALEA Commissioners approved the concept for dual accreditation. The CALEA staff was directed to develop a comparison of the standards and work out the functional problems. Prior to this, the advice offered by the CALEA staff was often confusing, as a number of major issues were unresolved. In a dual CALEA accreditation all parties affected must be cognizant that for PSCAP standards, words like "agency," while it can include the whole law enforcement agency, specifically means the communications component. In all cases the PSCAP standards, commentary, level of compliance, and glossary terms apply, and not those of the Standards for Law Enforcement Agencies. PSCAP standards that are verbatim or have the same intent as law enforcement accreditation™ standards are identified in the "Standards for Public Safety Communications Agencies Crosswalk to 4th Edition of Standards for Law Enforcement Agencies" (6-29-99). The crosswalk also indicates where law enforcement standards have the potential to differ from PSCAP in level of compliance or agency (or component) size. PSCAP assessors may review and change the status, or require other changes concerning law enforcement standards that are used for PSCAP proof of compliance to the extent they effect the Public Safety Communications Accreditation Program. Additionally the assessors should be reasonably certain that the standard and any changes are truly implemented and not just adjusted on paper to pass the assessment. However, efforts should be made not to change an agency into PSCAP compliance by becoming out of compliance for law enforcement accreditation™. Of course, any change is up to the agency and compliance determination is up to the assessor. A separate set of files for PSCAP should be maintained which include the PSCAP Individual Standards Status Report (ISSR), the applicable standard, and proof of compliance. In many cases copies of the law enforcement accreditation™ documents may be used as proof of communications accreditation compliance. About 63% of the standards for PSCAP are exactly the same as, or are so close to the law enforcement accreditation™ standard that their intent is the same. However, the PSCAP assessor must review these standards to ensure the intent of the PSCAP program is met. For example: PSCAP standard 2.3.1 is the same as law enforcement accreditation™ standard 2.1.1 "Geographical Boundaries Delineated," but the parent law enforcement agency may provide communications services outside or overlapping the law enforcement agency’s jurisdiction. Any jurisdiction variation concerning other law enforcement or other public safety communications, like communications with local and area fire agencies would have to be described. Many of the standards were classified as different in the crosswalk because the law enforcement accreditation™ standard required compliance by only "sworn" personnel. This could overlook civilian telecommunications personnel or other public safety personnel that are the focus of the PSCAP. For more information concerning dual accreditation, contact your Program Manager.
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