Arlington Police Department To Be Assessed for Re-Accreditation In May

ARLINGTON, MA –The Arlington Police Department is set to be assessed for re-accreditation by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission (MPAC) on May 9, Chief Julie Flaherty announced on Tuesday.

As part of the re-accreditation process, MPAC will conduct an examination of Arlington Police’s policies and procedures as well as their operations and facilities.

According to MPAC’s website, the re-accreditation process consists of two major components: (1) the establishment of a body of professional standards for police agencies to meet, and (2) a voluntary assessment process where agencies can be publicly recognized for meeting those standards considered best practices for the profession.

Among the standards are critical areas of police management, operations, and technical support activities. They cover areas such as policy development, emergency response planning, training, communications, property and evidence handling, use of force, vehicular pursuit, prisoner transportation, and holding facilities.

The program not only sets standards for the profession, but also for the delivery of police services to citizens of Arlington.

MPAC offers two program awards: Certification and Accreditation, with accreditation being the higher of the two.

MPAC consists of 257 mandatory standards as well as 125 optional standards. To achieve accreditation status, the Arlington Police must meet all applicable mandatory standards as well as 55 percent of the optional standards.

The Arlington Police Department became a certified agency in March of 2008 and gained full accreditation status in September of 2014. If achieved, the re-accreditation award will be granted for a period of three years.