Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accreditation

On July 20th, 2021 the Plumstead Township Police Department joined over 134 Law Enforcement agencies in Pennsylvania in earning accredited status. Accreditation is a progressive and time-proven way of helping police departments evaluate and improve overall performance by ensuring compliance to over 130 standards resulting in best practices for our police department. Throughout this year and a half endeavor, each member of the Department played a vital role, familiarizing themselves with new and updated policies and practices, followed new guidelines and actively assured that we, as a department, adhered to each and every policy.

Independent assessors came to our Department, evaluated each policy and then ensured compliance by evaluating reports, records, training and numerous internal documents. Assessors met with officers, toured Department facilities and evaluated equipment.

The accreditation process was a true team effort. During the two-day accreditation assessment, many officers took part in preparing areas of expertise for the assessors to review and evaluate. It is a credit to each officer in the department, showing their hard work and commitment to the department and police professionalism

The accreditation status requires an ongoing commitment to best practices, teamwork and participation in the process. Each member of our Department should also be proud of their accomplishments.

Benefits of Accreditation

• Reduces agency risk and exposure to lawsuits
• Decreases some liability insurance expenditures
• Improves law enforcement – community relations
• Increases employee input, interaction and confidence in the agency
• Enlarges the outlook and viewpoints of managers, officers and employees
• Identifies and highlights the capabilities and competence of the agency
• Furnishes a solid foundation for the agency to build upon for further progress
• Provides reliable methods to improve essential management procedures
• Extends agency accountability to the public and elected officials
• Enhances planning and innovative activities by all agency personnel
• Develops improved methods for providing services to the community
• Encourages problem-solving activities within the agency

On July 23rd, 2024, the Plumstead Township Police Department earned its re-accreditation during the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police annual training conference in Erie Pennsylvania.