A public portal for community comments about the Rice University Police Department (RUPD) will be open between Jan. 13 and March 21 as part of the annual assessment conducted by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) in an effort for RUPD to maintain national accreditation.
The accreditation program requires law enforcement agencies to comply with state-of-the-art standards in four basic areas: policy or procedure, administration, operations and support services.
As part of the assessment, agency employees and the public are invited to offer comments via the portal during that time frame. To access the portal, visit cimrs2.calea.org/500.
The purpose of the public portal is to receive comments regarding RUPD’s compliance with CALEA standards, engagement in the service community, delivery of public safety services and overall candidacy for accredited status. These comments can be in the form of commendations or concerns. The overall intent of the accreditation process is to provide the participating agency with information to support continuous improvement as well as foster the pursuit of professional excellence.
CALEA is not an investigatory body; subsequently, the public portal should not be used to submit information for such purposes. Additionally, there will be no response other than acknowledgment to submissions; however, the information will be considered in context to its relevancy to compliance with standards and the tenets of CALEA accreditation.
During the assessment, CALEA will examine all aspects of RUPD’s policies and procedures, management, operations and support services. The assessment will consist of one CALEA compliance service member, who will verify that RUPD meets the commission industry best practice standards.
RUPD must comply with 185 standards to maintain accreditation status. The assessor will review written materials and interview individuals where compliance can be witnessed. Once the CALEA assessor completes their review, they will report back to the commission, which will then decide if RUPD will retain accredited status. Accreditation remains valid for four years, during which RUPD must submit annual reports to show continued compliance with the standards under which it was initially accredited.
A copy of the standards is available by writing to the commission at 9532 Liberia Ave., Suite 813, Manassas, VA 20110.