CALEA Updates March 2022

Those who have been part of the CALEA process for a while know that nothing in accreditation is static – it is?always changing.?One of the ways in which the accreditation landscape changes is that at each CALEA Conference the Standards Review and Interpretations Committee (SRIC) convenes and makes decisions on standard suggestions/changes/updates that were proposed at the preceding conference. The SRIC reviews any comments received on previous proposed changes and will then render a decision on necessary changes to the CALEA standards in any of the four CALEA programs (Law Enforcement, Communications, Training Academy and Campus Security).?Once the SRIC and the full CALEA Commission approve these changes they are then forwarded to the agencies in the accreditation program for inclusion into their accreditation standards manual. Generally, agencies will have up to twelve months to incorporate the new changes (unless specifically directed otherwise, i.e., the changes made following the July 2020 CALEA Conference which were immediately effective).

When those changes are issued, each agency in that program will receive notification through their PowerDMS system.?PowerDMS provides users with a tool to compare the update with their current version so that the Accreditation Manager can pinpoint the changes and implement them at their discretion (subject to any directed timeframes).

So, what changed at the March 2022 CALEA Conference??Not too much, this time.??However, we will review the changes and tell you how you can be part of the next changes to the standards manual(s) at the July 2022 CALEA Conference in Chicago, Illinois.

The Commission made changes to the Law Enforcement and the Campus Security manuals as well as the CALEA Successful Guide to Accreditation Management.?Specifically, each manual has now been updated to the following versions:?Law Enforcement – version 6.15; Campus Security – version 2.6; and CALEA Successful Guide to Accreditation Management – version 1.6.

Only one change was made to the?Law Enforcement?manual in standard?82.1.4: Crime Reporting, which states “A written directive establishes procedures for collecting and submitting crime data to the national or state/provincial reporting system.”?This standard is an optional standard and the changes made were all within the commentary to the standard.?More specifically within the commentary the references to Uniform Crime Reporting for United States agencies was removed, thereby indicating that NIBRS reporting will meet the intent of the standard and for Canadian agencies the commentary changes indicate that Uniform Crime Reporting will meet the intent of the standard.

The?Campus Security?standards contained a few more changes; changes were made to the introduction in Chapter 11 replacing the term “task analysis” with “job analysis.” This change brings the terminology in line with the Law Enforcement standards, and it should be noted this also caused a change to the definition in the glossary.?A change was also made to standard?22.2.1?which is a CS1 standard (which represents a Tier 1 accreditation for Campus Security), and the change was made to the title of this standard, which changed from “Preliminary Criminal Investigations” to “Preliminary Investigations.”

The?Successful Guide to Accreditation Management?also underwent a few changes; Chapter 1 added a section on multiple accreditation programs which resulted in a re-ordering of Chapter 1.?Additionally, language changes were made to the “Continuing the Process” section of Chapter 1 to bring the procedures into agreement with the current reaccreditation format.

An additional section was also added to Chapter 3 which discusses the “Multiple Program Crosswalk Methodology” for those agencies embarking on multiple accreditations.?And a change was also made to the “CALEA Self-Assessment Forms” section of Chapter 3 which outlines the process for seeking an initial accreditation and contacting the regional program manager for requesting the site-based assessment.

In Chapter 5, changes were made by moving the sections related to multiple accreditations; you can now find those as those in Chapter 1 and 3.

In Chapter 6, language was added about “Provisional Accreditation with Condition(s)” which is a new addition to the manual and applies to initial accreditation only as a possible award to agencies by the CALEA Commission.?There were also changes to the various “Other Awards” that can be bestowed upon an agency, including additional language added as the procedures for awarding said awards.

As mentioned above, everyone who is part of the CALEA process has an opportunity to influence the standards.?At each CALEA Conference, the CALEA Commission puts forth various changes to the standards to which they seek public comment.?Following the March Conference, the Commission is seeking comment on?Law Enforcement Standards 46.1.5, 81.2.6, 31.4.8?and a proposed new standard on exculpatory evidence.?The Commission is also seeking comment on?Campus Security 17.2.8.?The proposed standards/changes can be found on the?CALEA website. The Commission is seeking comments to be submitted on the webform by?Friday, May 20th.?If you want to be part of the conversation, follow the provided link and add your comment(s).?The comments will then be reviewed by the SRIC at the July CALEA Conference as they decide which changes to propose for adoption by the Commission.

If the changes are adopted by the Commission, they will advise all CALEA agencies following the July Conference in Chicago, July 20-23, 2022.?See the CALEA website for additional details on the July conference.

Hopefully, you are now up-to-speed on the CALEA standard review and approval process, and you are ready to implement the March 2022 changes into your accreditation program.

If you have questions about your policies or your accreditation process, please reach out to the Daigle Law Group at (860) 270-0060.?If you are an accreditation manager in need of training, please join the Daigle Law Group for our?fall?Accreditaiton Manager Certification Training on Wednesdsays from 1400-1700 (eastern), September 28th?through November 16, 2022.?Click here for more information.