Press release from Asheville Police Department:
On Nov. 19, the Asheville Police Department (APD) was awarded the Advanced Meritorious Accreditation by the Commission on Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). This is the eighth award of accreditation to the department since 1994. The Advanced Law Enforcement Accreditation reflect the full complement of CALEA’s Standard for Law Enforcement, which currently includes 464 standards.
Out of approximately 500 law enforcement agencies in North Carolina, less than 10 percent are CALEA accredited. The Asheville Police Department is the only accredited agency in Western North Carolina.
In August 2017, an assessment team from CALEA spent four days at the Asheville Police Department reviewing our compliance with CALEA standards. Assessors inspected the police department, reviewed policies and procedures, interviewed employees, members of the community and media representatives and held a public information session in order to gather feedback and gain a better understanding of how APD serves the community. The assessors found no areas of concern that needed to be addressed and determined that APD was in compliance with all standards.
Chief Tammy Hooper states, “The accreditation process is very in-depth and opens our department up to intense scrutiny by an outside organization. I am extremely proud of the direction the Department is moving in and will continue to work hard to improve the community in which we serve.”
CALEA was founded by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Executives, the National Sheriffs Association and the Police Executive Research Forum in 1979 to improve the delivery of public safety services.
The department will maintain accreditation status until 2021.
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