CALEA Accreditation

The Western Springs Police Department is an internationally accredited law enforcement agency. The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) is an organization founded by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), National Sheriff's Association (NSA), National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) and the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF). The Commission has developed a comprehensive set of written standards covering every aspect of law enforcement policies, procedures, practices and operations. These standards were designed to:

• Increase law enforcement agency capabilities to prevent and control crime.
• Increase agency effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of law enforcement services.
• Increase cooperation with other law enforcement agencies.
• Increase employee and citizen confidence in the goals, objectives, policies and practices of the accredited agency.
• Reduce liability to the municipality by requiring an up-to-date policy manual reflecting the best professional practices in law enforcement.
• Hold the agency accountable by regular web-based and site-based inspections and Commission review.

CALEA Accreditation has become the primary method for a law enforcement agency to voluntarily demonstrate its commitment to excellence in law enforcement. The Law Enforcement Accreditation Program standards reflect the current thinking and experience of law enforcement practitioners and researchers. Major law enforcement associations, leading educational and training institutions, governmental agencies, as well as law enforcement executives internationally, acknowledge CALEA’s Standards for Law Enforcement Agencies and its accreditation programs as benchmarks for professional law enforcement agencies. Because this process is so rigorous, only 3% of law enforcement agencies in the United States choose to become accredited. It is a highly valued mark of professional excellence for an agency to voluntarily participate in CALEA, which has over 900 client law enforcement agencies in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.

Western Springs Police Department was awarded its first CALEA accreditation in 2004 and has been re-accredited five times since then. Annually, a compliance assessor reviews Western Springs’ policies and proofs of compliance using an online compliance system. Every four years, an assessor visits Western Springs to ensure it has maintained compliance with applicable standards and lives by the letter and spirit of those standards. The assessor examines specific areas of focus for the department. In June, 2020, the department underwent its assessment visit and in November, 2020 the department was reaccredited for the fifth time at the CALEA fall virtual conference. The department achieved Meritorious status for having been accredited more than 15 continuous years and was awarded “Accreditation with Excellence” status for having continually demonstrated excellence in commitment to the accreditation process and a willingness to share with others its accreditation success. This was the second consecutive time the department received “Accreditation with Excellence” status, having received it in 2016. Only a small percentage of CALEA agencies receive the “Accreditation with Excellence” award.

The public can learn more about CALEA and the accreditation process by visiting https://calea.org/

If you would like to provide comments, commendations, or other information regarding the Western Springs Police Department’s quality of service or other information relevant to the accreditation process, please visit the CALEA comment portal: https://cimrs2.calea.org/428

IMPORTANT: CALEA is not an investigatory body; subsequently, the public portal should not be used to submit information for such purposes. There will be no response other than acknowledgment of submissions; however, the information will be considered in context to its relevancy to compliance with standards and the tenets of CALEA Accreditation.