Chelsea Police Chief Brian Kyes with Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission Chairperson Chief Mark Leahy of Northboro.
The Chelsea Police Department was presented with a State Accreditation Award by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission during a ceremony at the Andover Country Club on September 12th, 2013.
Through a self-initiated voluntary evaluation process, police departments throughout the commonwealth pursue Law Enforcement Accreditation by meeting and maintaining professional standards established for the field. These professional standards address critical dimensions of police management, operations, and technical support functions. Standards encompass policy development, emergency response planning, training, communications, property and evidence handling, use of force, vehicular pursuit, prisoner transportation and the secure operation of holding facilities. The accreditation program establishes benchmarks both for the law enforcement profession and for the quality of police services delivered to commonwealth residents.
The Chelsea Police Department underwent assessment by a panel of trained Commission Assessors in June of 2013. Leading this effort were Chief Brian A. Kyes, CPD Accreditation Co-Managers Captain David Batchelor and Captain Thomas Dunn, and Accreditation Assistant Helen Ramirez. The MPAC Assessment Team determined that the CPD met ALL applicable Mandatory Standards and surpassed by more than 20% the required number of Voluntary Standards for Accreditation.
“Achieving Accreditation from the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission is a very significant accomplishment and a recognition highly regarded by the law enforcement community,” remarked Donna Taylor Mooers, Executive Director of the Commission.
“Going through the process initially requires intense and ongoing self-scrutiny, and ultimately provides a comprehensive top-down quality assurance review of the entire agency,” Chief Kyes noted. “In pursuit of this endeavor I remain extremely proud of all the men and women of the CPD who continually strive for excellence in the delivery of an optimum law enforcement and community policing product to the stakeholders in our community” he added.
Among the commonwealth’s 37 police departments (encompassing 10 major college and university police agencies), the Chelsea Police Department ranks as one of only 9 of the 35 Major City Police Departments to achieve Accreditation. The CPD was first Certified in 2003, Re-Certified in 2008, first Accredited in 2010 and now Re-Accredited in September of 2013.