Kent Police Chief Ken Thomas, accompanied by accreditation coordinator Brian Harvey, travelled last month to the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies conference in Bethesda, Md., where the Kent Police Department successfully achieved international reaccreditation.
“CALEA accreditation is a measuring stick that professional law-enforcement agencies use to compare themselves to one another and to the expectations that the community has of its police departments,” said Thomas in an April 18 city of Kent media release. “We have pledged to maintain CALEA’s professional standards as part of our commitment to public safety in Kent.”
Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke praised the department for its work.
“I am extremely proud of our police department, both the commissioned officers and civilian staff,” Cooke said. “The standard of excellence they demonstrate reflects the commitment by all of our city departments to provide our residents with the best service possible.”
The Kent Police Department was first accredited in 1996 and has received reaccreditation five times since then. Reaccreditation occurs every three years.
“We are very pleased to have successfully completed the reaccreditation process,” Thomas said. “This recognition is further demonstration of our adherence to our department values of commitment, integrity and professionalism and is a testament to our employees and the good work that they do in and for the Kent community every day.”
The police department had to demonstrate compliance with 464 standards to earn reaccreditation. CALEA assessors visited Kent for four days last fall, during which they interviewed department employees, residents and business owners and reviewed department files to verify compliance with standards.
Kent is the sixth largest city in Washington with a population of 117,869.
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