Washington University Police Department received accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. following the conclusion of a three-year assessment process in March.

WUPD achieved 100 percent compliance with 169 accreditation standards, a rare achievement for a campus law enforcement agency, according to Chief of Police Mark Glenn.

Beginning in December 2014, WUPD self-enrolled in the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc.’s (CALEA) multi-step accreditation process. However, Glenn noted that WUPD has been tailoring their policies to fit standards prior to their official engagement with the organization.

“The prior chief worked at an agency that was accredited as well. So, there was a knowledge of what was going to be required policy-wise,” Glenn said. “We were already developing policies and ensuring that they fit accreditation standards well before we got to this point.”

WUPD further prepared for accreditation by hiring Operational Support Bureau Commander Kelly Nappier to act as accreditation manager. Nappier, who previously worked at Washington University’s School of Medicine, was well-versed in the accreditation’s policies and filled an opening within the police department.

Additionally, Glenn contacted peer institutions, including the University of Missouri and the University of Missouri-St. Louis, to benchmark with other campus law enforcement agencies and to gain insight into the accreditation process.

According to Glenn, WUPD considered three associations but ultimately chose CALEA because of its specific focus on accreditation. Founded in 1978, CALEA was created as a credentialing authority through the joint efforts of four major executive associations: International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP); National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE); National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA); and the Police Executive Research Forum. 76 other campus law enforcement agencies around the country have been accredited through CALEA, including police departments at Brown University, the University of Chicago and The University of Pennsylvania.

CALEA’s organizational focus and backing made the association stand out amongst WUPD’s other choices, according to Glenn.

“They took the best of those four groups and funneled this into best practices. We felt the breadth of having four organizations that were internationally known and have participates around for us really was the best measure for us and that’s what we were looking for. We wanted to be measured against the best,” Glenn said.

THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS

After enrolling, WUPD was placed in a self-assessment process in which they tailored policies to comply with standards and provide proofs of compliance in preparation for the on-site assessment. Specifically, department officials ensure that WUPD policies match accreditation standards. Additionally, WUPD provided annual proofs in the form of documents, reports and photos that reflect uniformity in WUPD actions and policies, according to Nappier.

In the addition to proofs, WUPD conducted an in-depth analysis of its procedures and policies to ensure that they were meeting the needs of the department and of the Washington University community writ large.

At the conclusion of the three-year process, a team of CALEA-trained assessors visited WUPD and determined compliance with standards, viewed agency operations and conducted interviews with Washington University community members. WUPD maintained transparency throughout the on-site assessment, a stance that made the agency stand out from others, according to Chief Glenn.

“We were completely confident that our staff knows their job, and they know what they’re doing and know the expectations,” Glenn said. “We just let them have full reign of the department. I think it goes to the quality of the staff we have here as well as the training. They were completely impressed with our decision and our comfort level.”

During their on-site visit, CALEA assessors also held a public forum in which Washington University staff, faculty and students discussed their interactions with WUPD officers. Both Glenn and Nappier noted that student participation reflects the partnership-based policing used on the University’s campus.

“Both of [the assessors] commented afterwards that they had done multiple assessments at colleges and universities and had never seen students show up at public forums. It was great to hear because the students talked about their interaction with the police department and they consistently used the word ‘we,’” Glenn said. “It’s the customer-service based policing that we try to instill here really is evident when they started talking to community members at both the public forum and the call-ins.”

“I think it embodied kind of a family and a community. We are kind of a town within a town. We really try to make it a partnership. I think the end goal is…we’re one big family here and we don’t want any division. The students that came said ‘we helped do this with the police.’ And they were excited about it. That’s the goal,” Nappier said. “It’s something that’s a joint effort. And it was a big highlight that the assessors emphasized in their report and that the commissioners were happy to see.”

Few WUPD policies experienced major changes as a result of the accreditation. However, the department searched for areas of improvement, leading to the implementation of a Naloxone (commonly known as Narcan) policy. Narcan is an FDA-approved nasal spray for the emergency treatment of a known or suspected opioid overdose.

“While we haven’t seen anything directly on our campus, we have seen it in the area. We just felt it was important…And [we] worked with Dr. [Tom] Brounk and others in [Student] Health Services,” Glenn said. “It stood out that we were lacking in some of those areas like that; so, we enhanced that training to make sure we had better officers and better services.”

LOOKING AHEAD

Moving forward, WUPD will be engaged in constant maintenance, building on the foundation created by the accreditation process.

“Each year, a percentage of all the files will be audited,” Nappier said. “They have assigned roles for some of their staff to come in and assess a quarter of the files each year up to the fourth year when the assessors will come back on site and do the interviews, the ride-alongs, viewing dispatch and evidence and going through all the files. [CALEA] wanted to make it so that somebody or something wasn’t getting lost across several years of no contact.”

Glenn noted that WUPD achieved 100 percent compliance while dealing with several on-campus incidents over the past three years, including the 2016 presidential debate, city-wide responses to the Stockley verdict, and shootings on the Danforth, Medical and North Campuses. Glenn credits WUPD staff for successfully meeting standards and delivering high-quality policing.

“They just grabbed ahold of accreditation and realized the importance of it, too,” Glenn said. “It’s easy coming up with the policies; but putting [them] in place, it’s the great staff we have and I’m proud of each one of them and all the work they put into it.”