Transcript The veneer of accreditation

Steven Hougland, Ph.D.
Bainbridge State College
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Commission on Accreditation for Law
Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) was formed in
1979.
CALEA’s 480 standards address management,
personnel, operations, traffic, and courts.
Certification implies that accredited agencies
differ from non-accredited agencies in
identifiable ways.
Proponents see it as a process that improves
agency performance through the diffusion of
best practices in the field.
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Some suggestion that accredited organizations
differ from non-accredited agencies in
identifiable ways
operation of a drug or child-abuse unit
 use polygraph exams and pre-employment drug
testing
 increased calls for service
 Improved crime clearance rates
 decreased citizen complaints
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CALEA standard 52.1.1 states “A written
directive requires all complaints against the
agency or its employees be investigated, to
include anonymous complaints”
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All agencies seeking CALEA accredited status are
required to comply with this standard.
Sought to examine the effect of CALEA
accreditation on reducing citizen complaints.
Used data from the 2007 LEMAS survey
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Citizen complaints of excessive use of force.
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2007 Law Enforcement Management and
Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey.
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state and local law enforcement agencies employing
100 or more full-time sworn officers and a systematic
random sample of smaller departments (n=3,095)
The final sample included 950 agencies with 100 or
more sworn personnel, and 2,145 agencies
employing fewer than 100 sworn personnel. The BJS
received 2,840 survey responses for a total response
rate of 91.8% and an item non-response rate that was
generally 0%
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Data listed agencies by name, city, and state
Identified CALEA agencies
Conducted an internet search to locate state
accrediting bodies (n=21).
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Agencies not credentialed by CALEA but certified
by a state-level accreditation process were identified
and removed (n=221).
The final sample size for this study was 2,511
agencies
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CALEA accredited= 314
not accredited=2,197
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The number of sustained citizen complaints;
The number of not-sustained complaints;
The number of complaints pending
completion;
And the total number of all complaints.
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accredited status;
the total full-time employees;
the agency maintains computerized files on use
of force incidents;
a civilian complaint review board reviews use
of force complaints;
the agency operates an internal affairs unit;
the agency maintains an early warning system;
and the agency provides collective bargaining
rights.
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Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression is
inappropriate.
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assumption of a normal distribution of the data is
often violated with count data.
Count data require either a Poisson or a
negative binomial model.
A goodness of fit test determined the negative
binomial model was appropriate.
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Provided in handouts.
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CALEA accredited status is not a significant
predictor for 3 of the 4 models.
Total complaints—not significant
 Sustained complaints—not significant
 Other than sustained—not significant
 Pending--significant
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Agency size was a significant predictor across
most models : sustained, not sustained, and total.
Internal Affairs Unit, civilian review board, and
early warning system were significant predictors
for not sustained and total.
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A Civilian Review Board increases Total
Complaints and Sustained Complaints
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“If you build it, they will come.”
Improving the complaint process will increase
complaints.
An Internal Affairs Unit decreases Total
Complaints and Sustained Complaints
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Citizens generally dissatisfied with complaint
process.
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In 35 years…
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awarded accredited status to just 623 agencies.
3% of the nation’s 18,000 policing agencies
a number that has remained static for the last 10
years.
97% of police managers have chosen to not
participate in a voluntary process that is
arduous, costly, and labor-intensive
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accreditation has no impact on operational
effectiveness
case clearance rates
reducing incidents involving use of force
or the frequency or severity of lawsuits
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most CALEA standards lack substantive
content requiring that the agency have a policy
leaving the content details to the agency.
accreditation standards emphasize process
over outcome and have little impact on the
quality and nature of delivered services.
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The nation’s six largest police departments are
not accredited, and of the 10 largest agencies,
eight are not accredited.
New York City P.D. (1), Chicago P.D. (2), Los
Angeles P.D (3), Philadelphia P.D. (4), Houston
P.D. (5), Washington D.C. Metro Police (6),
Dallas P.D. (8), and Detroit P.D. (10).
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Just two of the largest sheriff’s offices are
accredited .
The largest non-accredited sheriff’s offices
include Los Angeles County S.O. (1), Cook
County S.O. (2), San Diego County S.O. (4),
Riverside County S.O. (5), Orange County (CA)
S.O. (6), San Bernardino County S.O. (7), Palm
Beach County S.O. (9), and Sacramento County
S.O. (10).
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"Police agency accreditation endures because it
provides a veneer of professional assurance
while accepting a wide range in the substance
of formal policies, most of which have little
consequence for the day-to-day practices of
police.... Its greatest significance is in the
symbolic realm, not the everyday experiences
of the police and the public.”