For four exhausting days, a three-man assessment team sifted through police records, interviewed management personnel and analyzed the department’s policies and procedures.
In all, the Evanston Police Department was measured against 443 national standards pertaining to nearly every aspect of its operation.
As the assessment team left the station Wednesday morning to file its report, the police breathed a small sigh of relief and announced that they expect to be recognized again this year as a fully accredited law enforcement agency.
“It went fine,” Cmdr. Michael Perry said. “It appears that we’ve successfully completed (the accreditation).”
Brian Scruggs, EPD’s accreditation manager, said the benefits of accreditation include protection from lawsuits and increased community confidence in the department.
Perry said the assessors told police that while they will recommend to the commission that EPD be re-accredited, the commission is not expected to make its official decision until July.
The report will be filed with the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., a national organization which was founded in 1979 by law enforcement officers who wanted to set up standards of police policy, procedures, management, operations and support services. CALEA offers law enforcement agencies the opportunity to demonstrate voluntary adherence to these standards through routine evaluations.
“(Accreditation) covers everything in the police department, ever facet of the police agency,” Perry said. “No stone goes unturned.”
EPD is one of 38 accredited community police departments in all of Illinois. EPD received its initial accreditation from CALEA in 1989, and it was re-accredited in 1994 and 1999. Accreditation status lasts three years, and after that time, the department must be re-evaluated.
The pressure to retain the status of an accredited agency often pushes the department to maintain up-to-date records and policies, even after the assessment is completed, he said.
“It’s sort of a fresh start when (the assessors) leave,” he said. “Our task will be to continue to do well in all the areas where standards apply.”
In order to take into account public opinion of the police department, Evanston residents were invited to share their comments through letters, e-mail and a special telephone hotline. The comments will become part of the official report that the assessors submit to the commission.
“The more a comment speaks to a specific relevant standard, (the assessors) will take that into serious consideration,” Scruggs explained. “It’s not a single determinant, but it’s definitely a part of the process.”
The role of the assessment team is not to engage in debate with residents about the police department but to gather facts for its report, said team leader David Abrecht, a retired captain of the Garden Grove, Calif. Police Department.
The majority of the residents at a Monday public hearing expressed their appreciation about the department’s willingness to cooperate with other community organizations, but concerns about aggressive police behavior also arose in the discussion.
Evanston resident Madelyn Ducre said she was concerned by rumors of police harassment in neighborhoods in West and South Evanston.
“I’m not going to sit by and not say anything,” she said. “We want quality police service in our neighborhood.”
