The Georgia Piedmont Technical College Law Enforcement Academy will welcome law enforcement, civic/community, state and local leaders Tuesday, August 19, 2014 at 11 a.m. at their Newton Campus, to acknowledge the stellar achievement of becoming the first training academy in the State of Georgia to achieve accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA). CALEA, during its July Conference in Schaumburg, Illinois, voted unanimously to award accreditation status to the Academy.

CALEA’s assessors visited the Law Enforcement Academy this past April. They conducted evaluations of the academy’s policies and procedures; reviewed files; interviewed staff, students, and graduates; and visited off-campus sites utilized by the academy for training - all in an effort to ensure compliance with the 159 standards established by CALEA. Georgia Piedmont Technical College (GPTC) was notified in July the academy had met all accreditation guidelines.

CALEA accreditation is considered the gold standard in public safety accreditation. It is responsible for accrediting numerous law enforcement agencies, public safety communications agencies, law enforcement training academies and campus security agencies throughout the nation and abroad. The college will acknowledge this significant achievement with a formal program and a reception immediately following the program. The accreditation is awarded for a three year period. However, the academy must demonstrate continuous annual compliance with the CALEA standards in order to maintain accreditation status. CALEA accreditation is a 100% voluntary process.

“This accreditation has been a goal of the Academy since we first began in 2009,” stated Major Harry C. McCann, Jr., Academy Director. “We wanted to have someone from the outside come in and tell us what we were doing right, what we may be doing wrong and where we could make improvements. This will help us make sure that we are training basic police officers to do the best job possible as they serve their communities. ”

CALEA was established in 1979 as a credentialing authority through the joint efforts of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, National Sheriffs’ Association, and the Police Executive Research Forum.