Accreditation for Public Safety Training Academies

Since 1999 CALEA, with the assistance of client agencies and outside experts, has been developing an accreditation program for Public Safety Training Academies.  The Public Safety Training Academy Accreditation (PSTAA) program was developed in response to requests for this service from training academies in the Training Certification program.

The draft standards will be submitted to the Standards Review and Interpretation Committee (SRIC) at the St. Louis, Missouri meeting for formal draft approval.  If the draft is approved, it will be submitted for review and comment to relevant potential users and the public for comment.  Depending on public input, the standards and related program process could be presented to CALEA Commissioners in November for final approval.

The objective of PSTAA is to provide guidelines in the form of standards that will improve law enforcement and public safety training, establish a voluntary process to meet those standards, and recognize professional excellence.

Consistent with CALEA’s philosophy, this program does not attempt to establish specific law enforcement training requirements, course content, passing grades, or other regulatory matters.  State, provincial, or regional Police Officer Standards and Training (Post) officials and the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST) best accomplish these important activities.  These officials understand local needs, the resources available, and other conditions to successfully establish and manage police officer training requirements in their jurisdictions.

The Standards for Public Safety Training Academies© manual contains 185 standards, 141 (M) mandatory and 44 (O) other-than-mandatory, organized into nine chapters or topic areas.  The chapters are Certification, Organization, Direction and Authority, Human Resources, Recruitment and Selection, Instructional Systems, Program Development, Training Support, and Student Welfare.  Both CALEA and professional law enforcement trainers who assisted in developing the standards believe they represent the best professional requirements and practices for public safety training academies.

Following CALEA’s organizational and standards tradition, the standard requirement provides a description of what must be accomplished by the applicant academy, but generally permits the individual agency wide latitude in determining how it will achieve its compliance with each applicable standard.  This approach allows for local independence and is the key to understanding the universal nature and flexibility of the standards.  The process is similar to other CALEA programs but there is no standard compliance distinction based on agency size.

Proposed eligibility for PSTAA program is limited to governmental organizations, accredited colleges and universities, and non-profit organizations that meet one of the following criteria:

1. Are authorized by appropriate outside authority to provide a comprehensive basic law enforcement training program.
2. Has the responsibility for the development and or delivery of advanced or in service broad scope public safety training.
3. Has been determined appropriate by CALEA Commissioners.

Generally short term specialty training, whether provided by public or commercial organizations, would not meet the intent of this program.

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