NEW CASTLE, Del. – Today, Delaware River and Bay Authority (DRBA) Police Department officials announced that the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) recently voted unanimously to reaccredit the DRBA Police Department with its Advanced Law Enforcement Accreditation Award. The agency was first accredited in 1996.

“I am extremely proud of our department’s dedicated men and women who worked tirelessly to once again earn this prestigious recognition,” said Lt. Colonel Christopher Field, DRBA Deputy Police Administrator.  “This department earned its ninth consecutive 100% compliance rating during the assessment process, a feat not many law enforcement agencies can claim.  Accreditation is a rigorous process, and our officers stepped forward to meet the challenge.”

Following a multi-year self-evaluation phase and a meticulous site-based assessment of community engagement, policy, procedures, equipment and facilities by CALEA assessors, the Delaware River and Bay Authority Police was presented before CALEA’s 21-member Board of Commissioners which reviews all findings and determines the agencies’ accreditation status. 

This is Delaware River and Bay Authority’s tenth award of national accreditation.  The DRBA now transitions into CALEA’s four-year Accreditation cycle that includes four annual remote, web-based file reviews and a site-based assessment in the fourth year. CALEA’s accreditation program provides public safety agencies with an opportunity to voluntarily demonstrate that they meet an established set of professional standards based on the industry’s best practices and approved by an all-volunteer board of commissioners.

In 2011, CALEA introduced the Gold Standard with Excellence Assessment, now termed Advanced Law Enforcement Accreditation Award, for agencies who voluntarily seek a higher level of evaluation during the reaccreditation process.  The rigorous Advanced Accreditation Assessment focuses not only by inspecting compliance files but also permits on-site inspectors to spend more time observing personnel in the field.  The assessment process measures the impact of accreditation on operations rather than simply confirming compliance through a file-by-file review. 

Photo caption: (l-r) CALEA Executive Director W. Craig Hartley, Jr.; Captain Kristen Todd, DRBA Police Department; Lt. Colonel Christopher Field, DRBA Police Department; and CALEA Commissioner Colonel Matthew C. Packard, Colorado State Patrol with the CALEA Accreditation Certificate at the Annual CALEA Conference held in Jacksonville, FL.

About the Delaware River and Bay Authority 
The DRBA, a bi-state governmental agency created by Compact in 1962, owns and operates the Delaware Memorial Bridge, the Cape May- Lewes Ferry, and the Forts Ferry Crossing.  The DRBA also manages two airports in New Jersey (Millville Executive Airport and Cape May Airport) and three in Delaware (Wilmington Airport, Civil Air Terminal and Delaware Airpark). All DRBA operating revenues are generated through bridge, ferry and airport facilities.  For more information, visit www.drba.net.
 
About CALEA
The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., (CALEA®) was created in 1979 as a credentialing authority through the joint efforts of law enforcement's major executive associations: International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP); National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE); National Sheriffs' Association (NSA); and the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF).

The purpose of CALEA’s Accreditation Programs is to improve the delivery of public safety services, primarily by: maintaining a body of standards, developed by public safety practitioners, covering a wide range of up-to-date public safety initiatives; establishing and administering an accreditation process; and recognizing professional excellence.