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The Largo (FL) Police
Department is located on the beautiful suncoast of Florida in the Tampa Bay
area. Since being awarded initial CALEA Law Enforcement Accreditation in July
1988, this C size full-service agency has experienced many organizational
changes. Organizational change is difficult to manage and change does not occur
overnight. Institutionalizing the accreditation process into an organization
does not either. Utilizing the theoretical concepts of organizational theorist
Kurt Lewin, who identifies change as a process of unfreezing, changing, and
refreezing, allows us to explain how the accreditation process functions as a
perpetual organizational change device.
The agency has embraced the accreditation philosophy since inception and utilizes the guidance of CALEA Law Enforcement Standards to provide residents with exceptional law enforcement services. Having spanned such a long history with CALEA, the accreditation process is inherent to the organization’s culture. The Largo Police Department embraces the concept that CALEA Accreditation is a process, not an event.
The first stage in Lewin’s theory is unfreezing. This is the process where administrators and other stakeholders survey and identify the current state of their agency and begin to unfreeze their traditional mind sets. From this stage, an understanding of the need for change is realized and change is initiated. Before this process can occur administrators and other stakeholders must make a convincing case through data analysis and other proven research techniques that change is necessary. Only after this information is collected and analyzed can an agency actually begin the process of facilitating change.
The CALEA Accreditation Process provides administrators and stakeholders a blueprint to constantly assess their agency's performance. Utilizing organizational management principles outlined in the standards, this agency has developed processes and procedures to ensure we continue to meet citizen expectations. By employing the system created by being in compliance with applicable standards, the department is able to identify and respond to issues such as intensive multi-year planning; triennial citizen surveys; annual analysis; and daily observations of services and crime trends in a timely manner.
Only once the organization has become unfrozen can change occur. Change requires constant communication through extensive multi-year planning. Agencies must ensure that their action for change is not done from a top down approach, but rather utilizing participative management styles. An organization which is no longer frozen is capable of exploring alternatives to traditional police strategies and capable of addressing community issues effectively.
The CALEA Process facilitates this change through community participation in the agency. The process further assists the agency in negotiating change with internal stakeholders through collective bargaining. Requiring participation in all agency processes by stakeholders creates agency transparency and reduces litigation and grievance expenditures which unnecessarily delay the change process.
The final step in change is refreezing. Refreezing is described as the process of institutionalizing change into your organization through structural and assignment changes to support organization initiatives. As required by CALEA Standards, an award system for employees; a frequent review of agency policies and procedures; and a review of agency effectiveness will remove barriers which otherwise would undermine the agencies mission.
The success of Largo Police Department’s 20 years of CALEA Accreditation is evident in several areas throughout the community and department. The most recent citizen survey resulted in 90% of citizens surveyed positively rating their interactions with police personnel and agency effectiveness. The agency continually conducts specialized position reviews and modifies the organization’s structure and mission to serve residents in the most efficient and effective manner. For example in response to significant traffic safety concerns in our densely populated community, the department employs CALEA’s principals of analysis to ensure agency resources are effectively deployed.
In recent years the agency has significantly improved the attrition rate through implementation of a detailed recruiting plan and improved communication with line officers. Through an extensive selection and training program, agency members are selected who are well prepared to meet and exceed citizen and organizational expectations. The organization has further exemplified this improved organizational culture with only three grievances filed during the past three years. Additionally through our in-service training program, agency members receive frequent training opportunities which prepare them for the constantly changing law enforcement environment. Through adherence to a timely “reports due system,” agency members remain informed, which allows us to navigate organizational change more smoothly.
There have been four different agency CEOs since our initial accreditation, but the department’s commitment to the CALEA Process has remained constant. When city leaders began their last search for a chief in 2001, they sought a veteran of the accreditation process who was capable of continuing the long history of high standards inherent to the Largo Police Department and hired current Chief of Police Lester Aradi from another CALEA Accredited Agency. Serving as the agency's CEO for the past seven years, Chief Aradi has navigated organizational change initiatives utilizing the benefits obtained through CALEA Accreditation.
The Largo Police Department continues to progress and face organizational challenges as it prepares to celebrate another 20 years of accredited status, organizational stability, and professional law enforcement services.
Lieutenant Stephen Slaughter, Accreditation Manager
Largo (FL) Police Department
