CALEA Accreditation

The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA®) was established in 1979 with the mission of providing law enforcement agencies with a voluntary opportunity to meet rigorous professional standards. The major executive associations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), National Sheriffs' Association (NSA), and Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), came together to create this credentialing authority.

CALEA Accreditation programs offer public safety agencies a chance to demonstrate their commitment to excellence by meeting a comprehensive set of professional standards. These standards require agencies to maintain comprehensive and uniform written directives that clearly define authority, performance, and responsibilities. They also require agencies to analyze data to make informed management decisions and prepare for critical incidents.

The Bloomington Police Department earned Tier 1 Accreditation in 2018 and undergoes annual review by CALEA officials. Every four years, a full accreditation review of policies and practices takes place. To learn more about CALEA Accreditation, please visit their official website at www.calea.org.

If you wish to provide comments on our agency's compliance with CALEA standards, engagement in the community, delivery of public safety services, and overall candidacy for accredited status, you can do so through the CALEA Public Comment Portal. CALEA welcomes both commendations and concerns, as the accreditation process is designed to promote continuous improvement and foster the pursuit of professional excellence

IMPORTANT: CALEA is not an investigatory body and subsequently the public portal should not be used to submit information for such purposes.  Additionally, there will be no response other than acknowledgment of submissions; however, the information will be considered in context to its relevancy to compliance with standards and the tenets of CALEA® Accreditation. Feedback may be submitted directly to BPD by submitting a complaint or compliment at these links. 

Monroe County Central Emergency Dispatch Center

Community feedback regarding the performance of the Central Emergency Dispatch Center is very important and vital to ensure the needs of the community are being met. Users of the Central Emergency Dispatch Center are encouraged to complete a short survey, which can be found here. This survey is intended to document citizen attitudes and opinions with respect to:

• overall agency performance;
• overall competence of agency employees;
• telecommunicator's atitudes and behavior toward citizens;
• determining community concerns; and
• recommendations and suggestions for improvements.

The Central Emergency Dispatch Center was awarded CALEA Tier 1 Accreditation on November 16, 2024. 

As part of the Dispatch Center CALEA Accreditation, the following successes, challenges, and goals/objectives have been identified:

Successes:

• Dispatched a total of 144,429 calls for service (increase of 13,544 calls or 10.3% over 2023)
• Improved call answer time within the 10-second threshold by 0.08%
• One additional dispatcher achieved their Excellence in Dispatch certification
• Achieved CALEA Accreditation
• Reduced call times but also improved overall service delivery and response accuracy
• Implementation of new software to enhance operational capabilities
• Three hiring processes completed with five dispatchers retained
• Increased call backup capability with addition of two call-taking mobile workstations

Challenges:

• Continue to increase staffing (82% of PSAPs nationwide are short-staffed)
• Implementation of new work schedule with current staffing levels

Goals:

• Become fully backup capable in 2025-2026
• Develop a Continuity of Operations Plan
• Support the growth, education, comfort, and morale of staff
• Continue to grow the training support for trainers
• Fill open leadership positions