Accreditation
Accreditation
The Salisbury Police Department is fully Accredited by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission. The Certification process was reviewed and obtained in 2015 with full Accreditation being awarded in October 2017. Salisbury Police Department was most recently awarded Re-Accreditation in September 2020.
Police Accreditation is a process by which a police department formally evaluates its activities and seeks an independent judgment that it substantially achieves its own objectives, and is generally equal or exceeds in quality to comparable agencies and is maintaining best practices in law enforcement.
The Massachusetts Police Certification program consists of 159 mandatory standards that cover areas such as policy development, emergency response planning, training, communications, property and evidence handling, use of force, vehicular pursuit, prisoner transportation and holding facilities. The program not only sets standards for the law enforcement profession, but also for the delivery of police services to the citizens of the commonwealth.
The Massachusetts Police Accreditation Program consists of 257 mandatory standards as well as 125 optional standards. In order to achieve accreditation status, the Department must meet all applicable mandatory standards as well as 55% of the optional standards.
Any questions regarding the accreditation process can be directed to the Accreditation Manager Lt. Richard Dellaria at our business line : 978-465-3121 or by email
Achieving Certification or Accreditation is a highly prized recognition of law enforcement professional excellence and the program provides the following benefits:
• Ensures that the Department’s policies and procedures are in line with modern professional standards.
• Provides a basis to correct deficiencies before they become public problems.
• Provides accountability among agency personnel.
• Provides a means of independent evaluation of agency operations for quality assurance.
• Enhances the reputation of the agency and promotes public confidence in it.
• Reduces liability exposure by following best practices for delivery of services and supervision of personnel
Police Certification and Accreditation work to reassure the general public that the law enforcement profession is prepared, trained and ready to handle future emergencies and calls for service. Agency preparedness begins with having a formal and current Written Directive System that incorporates best business practices into agency policies and operational plans.