A team of assessors from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA®), will visit Drexel from July 13 to July 16, to evaluate all aspects of the Drexel University Public Safety Communications Center’s policies and procedures, management, operations and support services.Verification by the team that the center meets the Commission's state-of-the-art standards is part of a voluntary process to gain CALEA accreditation—a highly valued recognition of public safety professional excellence, according to Domenic Ceccanecchio, vice president for Drexel’s Department of Public Safety.As part of the on-site assessment, agency personnel and members of the Drexel and surrounding community are invited to offer comments by calling 215.571.3596 on July 15, from 1 to 3 p.m.Telephone comments are limited to 10 minutes and must address the agency's ability to comply with CALEA Standards. A copy of the standards is available at the Department of Public Safety at 3201 Arch Street, room 350. Joseph J. Spera, director of operations and accreditation manager, is the local contact and can be reached at 215.895.1564.Written comments about the center’s ability to meet the standards for accreditation are encouraged and can be mailed to: Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement, Inc. 13575 Heathcote Boulevard, Suite 320, Gainesville, Virginia 20155.The center has to comply with 212 standards in order to gain accredited status. Accreditation will place the center among a select few professional public safetycommunications agencies recognized by CALEA and peer institutions, according to Ceccanecchio. The CALEA program manager for Drexel is Stephen Mitchell. The assessment team is composed of law enforcement and public safety communications 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: team leader Teresa Hardy, who retired from the Raleigh, North Carolina Police Department and Thomas Nesko, who retired from the University of Washington Police Department.Once the CALEA assessors complete their review of the agency, they will report back to the full Commission, which will then decide if the agency is to maintain accredited status, according to Mitchell. Accreditation is for three years, during which the agency must submit annual reports attesting continued compliance with those standards under which it was initially accredited.For more information on Drexel’s accreditation process, contact Joseph J. Spera at 215.895.1564 or jjs326@drexel.edu.
