The Vanderbilt University Police Department has earned accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., whose programs are open to law enforcement agencies around the world.
CALEA granted its first accreditation award in 1984 and since then the program has become the primary way for an agency to voluntarily demonstrate its commitment to excellence in law enforcement.
“Our police department has long had a reputation as being a top police department, but the CALEA accreditation makes it official and makes it easily recognizable that we are meeting what are considered the industry benchmarks for today’s law enforcement agency,” said Vanderbilt Police Chief August Washington.
Agencies that can seek CALEA law enforcement accreditation include those at the state/provincial, county/parish, municipal and federal levels. Universities are in the specialized law enforcement agency category, which also includes transit, port authority, park, fish and game and housing agencies.
Vanderbilt is one of 47 universities around the country awarded accreditation through the law enforcement accreditation program, and one of 32 agencies in Tennessee. The list of Tennessee agencies includes the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Nashville Airport Authority’s Department of Public Safety, the Tennessee Valley Authority Police and the only other accredited university – the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
One of Tennessee’s larger law enforcement agencies, VUPD provides comprehensive law enforcement and security services to all components of the university including the academic campus, medical center and a variety of university-owned facilities throughout the Davidson County area, including Vanderbilt Health One Hundred Oaks.
Through a memorandum of understanding with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, Vanderbilt officers with special police commissions have the same authority as that of a municipal law enforcement officer while on property owned by Vanderbilt, on adjacent public streets and sidewalks, and nearby neighborhoods.
CALEA was created in 1979 as a credentialing authority through the joint efforts of law enforcement’s major executive associations: the International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, National Sheriffs’ Association and the Police Executive Research Forum.
To learn more about CALEA and its accreditation programs, visit www.calea.org.
Media contact: Princine Lewis, 615-322-NEWS
princine.lewis@vanderbilt.edu