After three years of work, the Maplewood Police Department won accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). Sergeant Michael Martin spearheaded the effort and was presented with an Award of Excellence for his work at Tuesday’s city council meeting.
CALEA board member and Chesterfield Police Chief Ray Johnson presented the certificate of accreditation to Maplewood.
CALEA is an accreditation board which evaluates police departments based on a set of standards which measure administrative, operational and logistical aspects of police departments.
“This accreditation represents doing the right things the right way,” said Johnson. “The value is to the public you serve. If a person goes to a restaurant and doesn’t like the service they receive, they can choose to not go back to the restaurant. In law enforcement, people call one police department. Because they have no choice in the matter, we are obligated to provide the best and most professional service.”
Johnson also noted that of the more than 18,000 law enforcement entities in the United States, less than 10 percent will be come accredited. Maplewood is the 11th law enforcement entity in the St. Louis metro area and the 23rd in the state of Missouri to win accreditation.
Achieving this certification was no small feat. In 2011, Sergeant Michael Martin volunteered to put in the leg work and paperwork to pursue the distinction. Because of his effort over the past three years, Mayor James White presented Sgt. Martin with an Award of Excellence. Martin accepted the award and then introduced and thanked his wife for “putting up with all the extra hours” required to apply for the certification.
The accreditation is effective for three years.