|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ACCREDITATION WORKS Case Number 58
Receiving our fifth reaccreditation award at the November 2005 CALEA Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, was a special occasion because we were joined not only by Wilmette’s Village Manager, but also a retired Wilmette Police Lieutenant, Jerry Van Heltebrake (known to the department as “Lieutenant Van”), who now lives in Nashville. CALEA did not yet exist at the time of his retirement 28 years ago, and he inquired about the benefits of this program. Here is how we answered. Throughout these more than 20 years of affiliation with CALEA, accreditation has been an agent for positive change in our agency. CALEA standards represent “best practices” in this industry. These standards were the template for creating a comprehensive policy and procedure manual for the organization. Writing that manual required a review of virtually everything being done by the agency, every service and every procedure. Remaining accredited requires that we continue this review regularly. Wilmette’s first accreditation manager was, then, Sergeant Fred Clauser. It quickly became apparent to me that the accreditation process was developing him as, and revealing him to be, a future leader of the organization. I recall saying at the time that the A.M. will inevitably become the most knowledgeable person in the agency. (Fred rose to deputy chief in Wilmette and later served as chief of police in two different agencies.) My observation was true then and remains true today. Fred was the only A.M. we have had who held the rank of sergeant. For the past 19 years, Wilmette has elected to staff this pivotal position with a police officer who has not yet risen in the ranks. This has proven to be a successful strategy for developing tomorrow’s organizational leaders. Today, each supervisory rank in Wilmette includes persons who have worked in accreditation earlier in their careers. Ownership of accreditation, together with the pride it produces, now permeates the organization. CALEA standards evolve, requiring the same of us. By way of example, in recent years we have been required or encouraged by new or changing standards to develop policies and training for dealing with mentally ill persons, investigating missing children reports, the incident command system, various use of force issues, biased policing, and a personnel early warning system. Taking a pro-active stance on these issues has prepared all of us to face new challenges in law enforcement. Wilmette’s sworn personnel now receive, on average, over 100 hours of retraining annually. Not all of this is required by standards; but the accreditation process has conditioned us to place a high priority on continuous training. We explained to retired Lieutenant Van that the law enforcement accreditation network enables us to collect dozens of model policies and procedures on the very same day we request them from accredited agencies. The on-site process, in tandem with the mock on-site that precedes it, is a tremendously effective strategy for developing skills, knowledge, and abilities among personnel. We learn so much from the assessors who visit us, and we learn still more when we serve as assessors in visiting other agencies. To summarize, CALEA stimulates positive change, provides the only system of best practices, requires a comprehensive manual of policies and procedures, develops our future leaders, improves agency training, and opens up interagency communications and information exchange. A specific list of Wilmette’s policies, procedures and programs influenced by CALEA over these years would fill a volume. Lieutenant Van was a wonderful lieutenant to work with when I was a newer officer; he was bold, confident, great fun to be around and truly cared for his officers. At the Nashville Conference we were proud to bring him back to “active duty” for one night at the banquet, where he participated with us in the recognition ceremony. Although retired for 28 years, he became an accreditation convert and we could feel his pride in being retired from a nationally recognized organization and one of the nation’s first CALEA Accredited agencies. Unfortunately, this conference was also bittersweet. While in Nashville we learned that Wilmette’s first A.M., Fred Clauser, had passed away from cancer. Fred and I were hired together in 1973, roomed together at the Basic Training Academy, rose through the ranks, and worked together for 20 years. Fred was a leader in accreditation from the early 1980s until his death. At the Nashville banquet we were happy to hear Chairman Jim O’Dell describe how the law enforcement community will miss Chief Fred Clauser. George Carpenter, Chief
of Police
|
|
|
