CALEA Accreditation Manager Mikel Edwards, Sergeant
The DeSoto Police Department is Nationally Accredited through CALEA, The Commission on Law Enforcement Accreditation. The department has been continuously accredited since 1993 and is one of the longest accredit- ed agencies in the State of Texas. The entire department has placed much effort in maintaining their accredited status for the 396 National Standards. The CALEA Program has improved the delivery of public safety services to the City of DeSoto by maintaining a body of standards, devel- oped through best practices by public safety practitioners, covering a wide range of up - to - date public safety initiatives, recognizing professional ex- cellence, establishing and administering an accreditation process ’ strength- ening crime prevention and control capabilities, formalizing essential man- agement procedures, establishing fair and nondiscriminatory personnel practices, improving service delivery, solidifying interagency cooperation and coordination, and increasing community and staff confidence in the department. The department received its 9th CALEA Accreditation award in 2020 under the new four - year annual assessment program. The new assess- ment program requires the department to undergo an electronic assessment each year on its award anniversary covering 25% of the non - critical stand- ards and 100% of the critical standards. On the fourth year the department will receive an on - site visit completing the four - year assessment. In 2020 the agency approved an Accreditation Assistant and hired Sharon Poldrack who had recently retired from DeSoto as the Police De- partment ’ s Records Supervisor. Sharon ’ s years of experience in records made for an easy transition and she was able to quickly dive into her new role as the CALEA Accreditation Assistant.
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