ACCREDITATION
The Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association introduced the Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accreditation Program to the Commonwealth in July of 2001. Since then, over 280 agencies
have enrolled and 68 agencies currently have attained accredited status.
Accreditation is a progressive and time-proven way of helping institutions evaluate and improve their overall performance. The cornerstone of this strategy lies in the promulgation of standards containing a clear statement of professional objectives. Participating administrators then conduct a thorough analysis to determine how existing operations can be adapted to meet these objectives. When the procedures are in place, a team of independent professionals is assigned to verify that all applicable standards have been successfully implemented. The process culminates with a decision by an authoritative body that the institution is worthy of accreditation.
After years of hard work, on site assessments, policy changes/review, and other requirements, we have reached our goal of being accredited. As of September 22, 2009, the Hampden Township Police Department was officially accredited by the PA Chief’s of Police Association. The Hampden Township Police Department is one of only sixty-five accredited police departments in PA, and only the third in Cumberland County.