On Thursday, June 22, 2023, after a lengthy review process, Westwood Police Department has announced that the department has earned full accreditation from the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission (MPAC). The accreditation award is intended to reflect that the department is meeting best practices and standards of the law enforcement profession. The accreditation is granted for three years.
MPAC is a private, non-profit organization that offers a voluntary accreditation process for police agencies. MPAC gives accreditation to agencies that are committed to meeting professional standards, willing to be demonstrate compliance with professional standards, and agree to correct deficiencies found in the review process. In other words, the agencies voluntarily agree to meet standards of performance and then must demonstrate that those standards are being met. If they are not being met, they must take steps to improve.
The process for accreditation includes many steps over a long period. The first step is a self-assessment. The internal review is then followed by an external, peer review or mock assessment of hundreds of standards that include everyday best practices. A third step is a multi-day onsite assessment. MPAC then reviews the compiled reports of the agency's performance and determines whether to award the agency a certification or accreditation. Each step can be rigorous and time consuming.
At Westwood Select Board's meeting six months ago in January, Police Chief Jeffrey Silva reported on the ongoing MPAC process. He noted that MPAC's review had found no areas of needed improvement for Westwood Police.
"They found no findings which means there were no areas of improvement they wanted us to look at and they said we should immediately pursue what they called the 'fast track' for step two, the final stage of accreditation, which is full accreditation," he said. With "no items flagged" in a peer review, MPAC's on-site review of the department was scheduled to begin in February 2023.
"It's pretty exciting. I'm very, very proud of the officers who are not only following the policies that I write, but that can actually demonstrate that they're doing it. . . . Anybody could just take a policy manual and copy it and say they're accredited. But that's not how the process works," said Chief Silva at the January meeting. "You have to actually prove that you have not only the policies in place but the backup to show that you're actually operating in a way that's consistent with those policies."
As of June 22, 2023, the Westwood Police Department has MPAC accreditation. It has proved that it has "backup" to show that it is meeting the standards of performance it has hoped to meet.
Thanks to the Westwood Police Department for sharing its news with Westwood Minute.
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