Wood Dale Police Department receives accreditation awards

In May 2020, the Wood Dale Police Department participated in the fourth and final year of its accreditation review by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, receiving its seventh award of accreditation. This review was conducted to review compliance with nearly 500 measures of performance. Wood Dale is one of only 56 agencies across Illinois to participate.

Accreditation programs provide public safety agencies with the opportunity to voluntarily meet an established set of professional standards that require:

• Comprehensive and uniform written directives that clearly define authority, performance, and responsibilities;

• Reports and analyses to make fact-based and informed management decisions;

• Preparedness to address natural or man-made critical incidents;

• Community relationship-building and maintenance;

• Independent review by subject matter experts;

• Continuous pursuit of excellence through annual reviews and other assessment measures.

The review covers all aspects of the police agency, including hiring, training, use of force, evidence, reports, organizational structures, patrol, investigations, evaluations, internal affairs and many other areas. These standards are a compilation of the best practices in professional law enforcement.

"We strive to continuously hold ourselves to the highest standard for our Community," said Deputy Chief William Frese. "It's an honor to be recognized for these achievements."

Based upon the onsite assessment, the national commissioners reviewed Wood Dale's report, asked follow-up questions of our command staff, highlighted successes, and awarded us with our seventh Accreditation award. The police department has held this distinction since 2001.

"CALEA assists us with achieving our high level of professional standards," said Planning & Research Analyst/Accreditation Manager Chrissie Sobanski. "We are always updating policies, reviewing processes and working not only to maintain, but to raise these standards."

Beyond the reaccreditation, the police department is also extremely proud to have received the CALEA Accreditation with Excellence Award, which is only received by approximately 12% of reviewed agencies. The intent of the CALEA Accreditation with Excellence Award is to provide agencies an opportunity to be further recognized for the effective use of accreditation as a model for the delivery of enhanced public safety services and management professionalism, including:

• Progressive community engagement strategies;

• Data as a structured tool for business decisions;

• Repeated and progressive use of accreditation model for outcomes management and benchmarking;

• Leadership status among peer agencies as an accredited organization.

The police department recognizes that accreditation is an ongoing process, and it does not end when the designation as an accredited agency is earned. They are continuing to work to improve the service provided to residents.