UIC Police awarded Advanced Law Enforcement Accreditation

The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., has awarded the University of Illinois Chicago Police Department its Advanced Law Enforcement Accreditation, effective July 23. CALEA serves as the gold standard for international public safety agencies and presented the award to UICPD at a banquet during its summer conference held July 20-23 at Chicago’s Fairmont Hotel.

UIC Police Chief Kevin Booker said that earning the advanced accreditation was extremely important to the department.

“Accreditation professionalizes the organization by adopting the best practices in law enforcement. It’s the gold standard, and less than 10% of law enforcement agencies in the country have the advanced law enforcement accreditation distinction that our department has just received,” Booker said.

According to CALEA, its Advanced Law Enforcement Accreditation Program is specifically designed for elite organizations striving to demonstrate professional excellence within a comprehensive range of operational and administrative functional responsibilities. It provides agencies the opportunity to go beyond the implementation of basic best practices and is available to those with enough human and fiscal resources to consistently exceed basic service delivery. Advanced accreditation also provides agencies additional means to verify accountability to those expecting and relying upon the highest level of public safety services.

Obtaining the accreditation is a five-step process that begins with a rigorous self-assessment and review of policies, practices and processes against internationally accepted public safety standards. This is followed by an assessment by independent assessors with significant public safety experience. Public feedback is also sought to promote community trust and engagement, and structured interviews are conducted with select agency personnel and others who can assess the agency’s effectiveness and overall service delivery capacities. The decision to accredit is rendered by a governing body of 21 commissioners following a public hearing and review of all reporting documentation.

“The accreditation process was both challenging and meaningful,” Booker said. “It required a team effort from not only UICPD employees and other university staff, but from external partners as well. I’d like to thank our accreditation team manager, Captain Jason Huertas, and team members Officer William Honiotes and Officer Anthony Robinson for their leadership and dedication to this project, which enabled us to look at our organization through a variety of lenses to ensure we are delivering the highest quality of services to the community we serve.”

CALEA accreditation is a continuous process and UIC must maintain its accredited status by remaining in compliance with CALEA standards at all times. The Advanced Law Enforcement accreditation will remain in effect until 2026.