Accreditation

ACCREDITATION FOR “Our Community, Your Department”

On March 24 - 25, 2009 an assessor from the Oregon Accreditation Alliance (OAA) conducted a comprehensive on-site review of the Pendleton Police Department's established policies, procedures, practices, facilities and daily operations. The assessor used 99 industry standards to evaluate our agency.

Upon completion of the assessment process a final report was prepared and presented to the OAA Board of Directors on April 7, 2009. The Board of Directors unanimously recommended accreditation be awarded to the Pendleton Police Department. The OAA's recommendation was forwarded to the Oregon Association of Chief’s of Police (OACP) Board of Directors for consideration. On April 8, 2009, the OACP officially awarded accreditation to the Pendleton Police Department. The Pendleton Police Department in turn became the 23rd accredited law enforcement agency in the State of Oregon.

Accreditation provides a level of recognized professionalism by establishing standards of excellence, which must be met and maintained in order to achieve and sustain accredited status. As a result of the accreditation process, accredited agencies have shown that their daily operations meet or exceed industry standards in the law enforcement profession.

Our promise to you is that we will strive to exceed your expectations and maintain your trust!

The Oregon Accreditation Alliance outlines the following benefits:

For the Community

• Increases the law enforcement agency’s ability to prevent and control crime through more efficient and effective delivery of services.
• Enhances community understanding of the law enforcement agency, its role in the community, and its goals and objectives.
• Creates a forum in which police and citizens work together to prevent and control crime through greater understanding of the challenges and impacts on law enforcement and the desires of the community.
• Enhances public confidence in the law enforcement agency.

For the Chief Executive Officer

• Increases cooperation and coordination with other law enforcement and criminal justice agencies.
• Provides independent confirmation that policies comply with professional standards.
• Provides greater administrative and operational effectiveness.
• Insures continuous, systemized self-assessment of policies, procedures, and operational practices.
• Decreases exposure to civil liability and costly settlements, which leads to potential reductions in premiums for liability insurance.
• Provides state and local acknowledgement of professional competence.

For Law Enforcement Personnel

• Enhances understanding of agency policies and procedures.
• Assures consistent recruitment, selection, and promotion processes and that employment practices are fair, equitable, and non-discriminatory.
• Increases morale within the agency.
• Increases pride and confidence in the agency and its operations.
• Ensures that agency policies and procedures are reduced to writing and available to all personnel.

For further information on accreditation please visit www.oracall.org, the Oregon Accreditation Alliance.