Round Lake police looking for options to national accreditation

While Round Lake’s tight finances may lead to the village quitting a national organization’s police accreditation program, a regional law-enforcement leader says there still are other ways to update standards and monitor issues.

At issue is Round Lake’s relationship with Virginia-based Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. In April 2009 it certified the village in nearly 400 internationally accepted operation standards.

Known as CALEA, the nonprofit organization says its services help police departments strengthen accountability as part of a blueprint promoting efficient use of resources.

In a cost-cutting recommendation Monday, Police Chief Michael Gillette said the village shouldn’t pay CALEA’s roughly $4,000 overdue invoice and drop out of the group. He said Round Lake police can still follow the CALEA program that’s in place.

Gillette acknowledged that updated standards and policies that come from an outside accreditation process can lead to better results for taxpayers.

He said an accredited police department faces fewer lawsuits, and smaller judgments, “because you can prove that you are following a set standard,” Gillette said.

Round Lake trustees are expected to vote June 20 on whether to discontinue the CALEA program.

George Filenko, president of the Lake County Chiefs of Police Association, said it’s not unusual these days for membership in groups like CALEA to fall to municipal budget cuts.

Filenko, chief of the Round Lake Park Police Department, said accreditation is important and there are other ways to get it done beyond CALEA, which is considered a national benchmark.

Private consultants and the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police offer similar, less-expensive accreditation programs. He said CALEA and the alternatives provide updates on civil litigation involving police and other information that’s difficult for a single department to track.

Round Lake Village Attorney Michael Zimmerman said CALEA has nationally recognized standards that help create a stronger defense in court cases.

“It’s not an absolute defense to an excessive force or pursuit case, but CALEA has guidelines for officers,” Zimmerman said.

Other towns across the country have been questioning whether staying with CALEA makes good financial sense.

In the St. Louis suburb of Ballwin, Police Chief Steve Schicker cited escalating costs in recommending the city dump CALEA. He said in a memo to the city administrator it would have been nearly $10,000 to remain this year, plus perpetual expenses he found while researching the company.

“Based on the current economic climate, I do not feel that continuing with CALEA is the most fiscally responsible approach to professional accreditation for the (Ballwin) department when there is another affordable and professionally equal option,” Schicker wrote.

At least 41 municipal police departments in Illinois pay for CALEA services, including Mundelein, Arlington Heights, Naperville, Lake Zurich, Grayslake and St. Charles.