# CALEA



## BLUE21 (Jun 5, 2009)

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone here is familiar with CALEA. My Chief is looking into the process of becoming accredited via CALEA and he asked me what I think. I have found a host of positives for being accredited however I have not been able to find many negatives (Cons) on CALEA at all.

So my question is does anyone have any _"Cons"_ or negatives on becoming CALEA accredited?


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## Guest (Sep 30, 2012)

*C*ash

*A*ccepted

from

*L*aw

*E*nforcement

*A*gencies

Totally useless, IMO. If there's any benefit other than getting stickers for your cruisers, that outweighs the ridiculous hoops you have to jump through, and exorbitant costs involved, I've never heard of it actually benefiting a law enforcement agency.

Seriously.....can you imagine any circumstances where a judge or jury would hear "But we're accredited by CALEA" and react by saying "Oh, well, considering that, the lawsuit is dismissed?"


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## Killjoy (Jun 23, 2003)

But they're the "Gold Standard in Public Safety"??


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## mpd61 (Aug 7, 2002)

It does seem to help some of the campus agencies feel better about themselves. Massasoit was about 80% done when Chief Newell dismantled it in 03.
Framingham State did it to get armed right?


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## LA Copper (Feb 11, 2005)

A friend of mine in New Hampshire spent a bunch of money and several months working full time on getting his department accredited. From what he's told me, the only positive thing they've received (other than the nice sticker Delta mentioned) is additional consideration when it comes to obtaining grants, although they haven't received any yet because of it.


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## Guest (Sep 30, 2012)

The only purpose of accreditation is to shift liability from the agency to individual officers. 

They give you two 3" binders of policy, then smash your dick between them when you slip up.


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## Dan Stark (Aug 2, 2005)

^ Boom. Thread ender.


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## badgebunny (Aug 17, 2005)

mpd61 said:


> It does seem to help some of the campus agencies feel better about themselves. Massasoit was about 80% done when Chief Newell dismantled it in 03.
> Framingham State did it to get armed right?


...from what I hear the only reason they did was because it was REQUIRED by the BOT


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## Guest (Oct 1, 2012)

Killjoy said:


> But they're the "Gold Standard in Public Safety"??


You forgot the .


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## BxDetSgt (Jun 1, 2012)

I have seen a lot of "accredited" agencies that could not find a collar in a shirt factory..they get so preoccupied with regulations and policies they forget how to catch bad guys.


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## Herrdoktor (Jun 23, 2010)

Lower insurance rates, more grant money and you get a nifty plaque to put on the wall.

Whhheeee...


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## LGriffin (Apr 2, 2009)

Blue, As Delta said, it's a strong sales pitch followed by a bunch of hoops without benefits. Since you're opinion matters to your Chief, tell him that i'll accredit your dept. for half the price and provide you with *free LG approved vehicle decals and a plaque for both your lobby and the Chiefs office.


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## Johnny Law (Aug 8, 2008)

When we were accredited, only one person from patrol went to the ceremony. If that gives you an idea of how well we like it.


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## lofu (Feb 25, 2006)

Johnny Law said:


> When we were accredited, only one person from patrol went to the ceremony. If that gives you an idea of how well we like it.


Prob the one guy the Chief sought counsel from before going through with it.


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## Johnny Law (Aug 8, 2008)

lofu said:


> Prob the one guy the Chief sought counsel from before going through with it.


Either that or he was hoping to score points in the ass kissing department. It didn't work.


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## CJIS (Mar 12, 2005)

GMass said:


> The only purpose of accreditation is to shift liability from the agency to individual officers.
> 
> They give you two 3" binders of policy, then smash your dick between them when you slip up.


LOL

On a serious note: Only 3 binders? Danm you are lucky.


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## LawMan352 (10 mo ago)

BLUE21 said:


> Hello,
> 
> I was wondering if anyone here is familiar with CALEA. My Chief is looking into the process of becoming accredited via CALEA and he asked me what I think. I have found a host of positives for being accredited however I have not been able to find many negatives (Cons) on CALEA at all.
> 
> So my question is does anyone have any _"Cons"_ or negatives on becoming CALEA accredited?


You spend exorbitant amounts of cash, for these guys to tell you how important they are & why you need them to run your agency. They come up with policies & tell your chief & administration why it’s their practices which ought to be implemented, to save you money on a possible law suit that could, maybe, possibly, almost happen. Don’t worry, the money CALEA possibly saves your agency, will ACTUALLY be spent by your agency on CALEA & their process.
My agency is updating the manual every time CALEA whispers of a better way, at least monthly, the officers can hardly keep up. Once over 30 changes in one month followed by 30 more the next as admin looked things over and realized they’d missed a few “suggestions” they decided we’re best implemented after all. Among them: hey when your officers go on duty, now we can’t trust that they’ve been diligent prior to their tour, they must announce to dispatch they’ve searched their own cruisers for contraband and it was secure. You will be paying for that kind of junk to be added. Forms, although they’re perfectly fine & meet state criteria, will suddenly have to meet CALEA standards. Your agency administration will surrender their leadership to CALEA standards, paying CALEA for it.

Abandon the notion !!


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## j809 (Jul 5, 2002)

I don’t know of any CALEA accredited agencies in Massachusetts. There are many MPAC which is different 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Roy Fehler (Jun 15, 2010)

j809 said:


> I don’t know of any CALEA accredited agencies in Massachusetts. There are many MPAC which is different
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Chelsea, Concord, Danvers, Fall River, Haverhill, Newton, Northeastern University, and UMass-Amherst all have CALEA accreditation.


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## j809 (Jul 5, 2002)

Not that many MPAC better and easier


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## Roy Fehler (Jun 15, 2010)

j809 said:


> Not that many MPAC better and easier


I view all police accreditation as being equally worthless, so “better” is certainly subjective.

It’s like winning the kindergarten spelling bee, the teachers (accreditors) all clap, and you get a certificate to hang on the wall, but it means nothing in the grand scheme of things.


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