The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies will complete a remote assessment of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Police Department on Nov. 8-9.

The review will examine all aspects of UNLPD’s policies, procedures, management, operations and support services. It is part of a voluntary process to gain reaccreditation, verifying that the UNLPD meets the commission’s state-of-the-art policing standards. UNLPD has maintained CALEA accredited — a highly-prized recognition of public safety and professional excellence — since 2015.

“To gain accredited status, our office must comply with numerous standards that reflect current best-practices in law enforcement,” Chief Hassan Ramzah said. “The CALEA accreditation represents recognition for the hard work done by the UNLPD to provide the campus community with a high quality of service and pushes us to continue to improve”.

As part of the assessment, UNLPD personnel and members of the campus community are invited to offer comments to a CALEA assessor at a public information session at 1 p.m. Nov. 8 in the Nebraska Union’s Platte River Room (North). The assessor will attend via Zoom.

Comments may also be submitted to the assessment team via phone call to 402-472-0234 from 10 a.m. to noon, Nov. 9. Telephone comments are limited to 10 minutes each and must address the agency’s ability to comply with CALEA standards. The local accreditation manager is Michael Maas, who can be reached at 402-472-8430 or mmaas2@unl.edu.

“CALEA accreditation is really a source of great pride, as only a small number of law enforcement agencies in the U.S. are accredited,” Mass said. “It shows that our employees are dedicated to putting in the extra work to ensure we are the best agency we can be.”

Individuals wishing to offer written comments about the UNLPD’s ability to meet the standards for re- accreditation can send a written submission to: Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement, Inc. (CALEA), 13575 Heathcote Boulevard, Suite 320, Gainesville, Virginia 20155.

The assessment is being conducted by two professional assessors assigned by CALEA. It is led by Zandral N. Washington, deputy chief of police at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Police Department. The review is assisted by Ernest Knight, commander with the University of Chicago Police Department. Together, they bring more than 50 years of law enforcement experience and more than 30 years of CALEA experience to the assessment.

Once the assessment is completed, the assessors will forward their report to the full CALEA commission, who will determine if re-accreditation is granted. Accreditation is for four years, during which the agency must submit annual reports and participate in annual remote web-based assessments verifying continued compliance with those standards under which it was initially accredited.

For more information regarding the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, write to 13575 Heathcote Boulevard, Suite 320 Gainesville, Virginia 20155; call 703-352-4225 or email calea@calea.org.