MEDIA RELEASE

CALEA Executive Director W. Craig Hartley Jr., Lieutenant Kenneth Quiocho, Deputy Chief Paul Ferreira, Sergeant Tuckloy Aurello, Sergeant Regino Saludares and CALEA Commission Chairman Mr. Richard Meyers pose in Miami on Nov. 21 after the Hawai’i Police Department earns reaccreditation.

The Hawaiʻi Police Department has earned renewal of its accreditation status, keeping it part of an elite group of police departments accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. (CALEA).

The accreditation renewal was announced Saturday (November 21) at the CALEA fall conference in Miami, where the Hawaiʻi Police Department was one of 96 law enforcement agencies being evaluated for accreditation or reaccreditation.

During the conference, held November 17-21, Deputy Chief Paul Ferreira and members of the Police Department’s Accreditation Section appeared twice before a CALEA review committee to make presentations and answer questions about the department’s policies and procedures. On Saturday, the CALEA board announced that the department continues to deserve CALEA’s coveted accreditation status.

The department’s Accreditation Section consists of a lieutenant, two sergeants and a civilian clerk. Chief Kubojiri praised them for their hard work.

“The CALEA staff has worked tirelessly these past three years to ensure that this department would maintain its honored status of CALEA accreditation. Because of their commitment, the community can be assured that their police department meets the highest of professional law enforcement standards,” Kubojiri said. “I also commend all the department’s sworn officers and civilian employees for participating in the accreditation process and for embracing the CALEA standards.”

Of the roughly 23,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States, only about 1,200 have been awarded CALEA accreditation.

The department was initially awarded accreditation three years ago, on November 17, 2012. Six years earlier, department personnel began the process by reviewing and—when necessary—revising the department’s General Orders, policies and procedures to ensure they all met CALEA standards.

This was the Hawaiʻi Police Department’s first reassessment since initial accreditation. As part of the process, a team of out-of-state certified CALEA assessors conducted an on-site assessment in July. The team visited district police stations and facilities and examined all aspects of the department’s policies, procedures, management, operations and support services. The team interacted with department personnel by riding along with patrol officers and conducting interviews with sworn and civilian personnel. Various community leaders were also interviewed.

During the on-site assessment, the team took comments from the public in a public session and by telephone to give members of the community an opportunity to comment on the department’s ability to maintain CALEA standards. The CALEA Standards Manual was made available for public review.

From this point forward the department must undergo a CALEA reassessment every four years to demonstrate that it remains in compliance with more than 400 applicable CALEA standards.

Being CALEA accredited can limit the department’s exposure to liability risk because accreditation demonstrates that a team of independent outside CALEA-trained assessors has verified that the department meets internationally recognized standards. CALEA Accreditation will also assist in the department’s relentless pursuit of professional excellence and its commitment to its community with the highest quality of public safety service.

CALEA was established as a credentialing authority in 1979 through the joint efforts of major law enforcement executive associations such as the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, National Sheriff’s Association and the Police Executive Research Forum. The goals of CALEA are to improve the delivery of public safety services by developing and maintaining a body of standards, establishing and administering an accreditation process for law enforcement agencies, and recognizing professional excellence in public safety.