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By Chief R.W. Landon Ph.D., (ret. Washington State Police & Montana Highway Patrol), Past Pres. IACP, and former CALEA Commissioner. The practice of accrediting institutions began in this country more than 200 years ago when New York State established a State Board of Regents to charter colleges and private academies. The concept has since been successfully applied in fields as diverse as corrections and health care services. The key of this successful system lies in the consensus of published and circulated standards containing a clear statement of professional objectives. Law enforcement accreditation™ got its start in 1978 when William Dean, a staff officer of the IACP, successfully convinced the Board of Officers that police service to the American public should be improved. He determined that the best vehicle to achieve this goal was to follow the accreditation models already being followed successfully by many other institutions in our society. After repeated attempts by the IACP Executive Director, Norman Darwick, and William Dean, to convince the Board of Officers on the merits of accreditation, it was finally accepted. There was much debate and soul searching on the part of the board of officers before we finally gave authorization to the executive director to go to the United States Department of Justice and seek a grant to begin the accreditation process. The Department of Justice was in favor of a grant of monies to up-grade law enforcement, but wanted as many police membership organizations as possible to be involved in the planning and implementation processes. A federal grant was given to the newly established Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA). The original standards (with some help from at least one state association) were developed by the following four major law enforcement executive membership associations that founded CALEA:
James Cotter, fresh from running the FBI National Academy was selected as CALEA’s first executive director. From those early days, CALEA has developed into an organization that serves many of the jurisdictions on this continent. In my opinion, accreditation is the best thing that has happened to law enforcement this century and many agencies have proven that they are truly professional because of, and with the aid of the accreditation concept. Thanks William (Bill) Dean!
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CALEA History
