Virginia Tech Police Department seeks reaccreditation; public comment invited as part of process
An assessment team representing the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. (CALEA) will visit Virginia Tech beginning June 14 to examine all aspects of the Virginia Tech Police Department.
The voluntary CALEA accreditation requires police agencies to comply with state-of-the-art standards in policies and procedures, administration, operations, and support services.
As part of the on-site assessment, agency employees and members of the community are invited to offer comments at a public information session at 4 p.m. on June 16 in the South End Zone Club at Lane Stadium, 285 Spring Road in Blacksburg. Individuals unable to attend the public session may provide comment by calling (540) 231-1334 on June 15 between 1-3 p.m.
Telephone comments as well as appearances at the public information session are limited to 10 minutes and must address the agency’s ability to comply with CALEA’s standards. A copy of the standards is available for review at the Virginia Tech Police Department.
Written comments on the department’s ability to meet the standards for accreditation may be sent to: Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc., 13575 Heathcote Boulevard, Suite 320 Gainesville, Virginia, 20155.
The accreditation assessment team is composed of law enforcement practitioners from similar but out-of-state agencies. The assessors will review written materials, interview individuals, and visit offices and other locations where compliance can be witnessed. The assessors are Chief Linda Stump-Kurnick, University of Florida Police Department and Synthia Nugent, Wilmette Police Department, Illinois.
Once the commission’s assessors complete their review of the agency, they report back to the full commission, which then decides if the agency is to be granted accredited status.
Accreditation is for three years, during which the agency must submit annual reports attesting continued compliance with those standards under which it was originally accredited.
This will be the sixth re-accreditation process for the Virginia Tech Police Department. It was first accredited in 1995.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
