The Florida A&M University (FAMU) Department of Campus Safety & Security will host a virtual visit of a team of assessors from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA), June 29 – July 2.
The team will examine all aspects of the Department of Campus Safety & Security’s policies and procedures, management, operations and administrative services.
The team will verify the department meets CALEA’s 459 standards as part of a voluntary process to achieve accreditation. Once achieved, accreditation is renewed every four years.
“The CALEA Accreditation process is important for accountability, transparency, promotes efficient use of resources and improves the delivery of service to the FAMU community,” said Assistant Vice President of Safety/Police Chief Terence M. Calloway. “Accreditation is an affirmation, a mark of excellence. The men and women of our department, along with the students and administration of Florida A&M University, should be proud of an achievement that few have achieved.”
The assessment team includes public safety practitioners from similar, out-of-state agencies. The assessors will interview individuals and conduct virtual visits where compliance can be witnessed. The assessors are Deputy Chief Zandral Washington from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Police Department and retired Lt. Edmund Pecinovsky, who worked with the California Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) until December 2011.
Wendy Dorival is the FAMU Department of Campus Safety & Security’s accreditation manager.
As part of the on-site assessment, agency employees and members of the University community are invited to offer comments at a public information session on June 30, 2020, beginning at 3 p.m. EST. The session will be conducted via Zoom by scheduled appointment.
For Zoom access, send an email to wendy.dorival@famu,edu by Thursday, June 25. She can also be reached at 850-599-3676.
To provide telephone comments to the assessment team, call (850)412-7638 between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on July 1, 2020.
Telephone comments, as well as appearances at the public information session, are limited to 10 minutes and must address the agency’s ability to comply with CALEA standards. Those standards are available for review at the FAMU Department of Campus Safety & Security.
Written comments about the Department of Campus Safety & Security’s ability to comply with the standards for accreditation may be sent to CALEA, 13575 Heathcote Boulevard, Suite 320, Gainesville, Va., 20155 or calea@calea.org.
Once the CALEA assessors complete their review of the agency, they will report to the full Commission, which will then decide if the agency is to be granted accredited status.
