Lake Bluff Police receive ninth consecutive CALEA accreditation, commission delegate tells trustees

The Lake Bluff Police Department received its 2025 certificate of law enforcement accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) at the Village Board meeting on June 23.

Dr. Shannon Gillette, a CALEA delegate and former police chief, told the board that CALEA’s standards “reflect the current thinking and experience of law enforcement practitioners and researchers” and that the Lake Bluff department demonstrated a “community focused approach to policing.” Gillette said the department was evaluated against more than 185 professional standards during site visits and annual web-based assessments and that the commission unanimously approved reaccreditation.

According to the presentation, Lake Bluff was first CALEA-accredited in 1999 and this 2025 award marks the department’s ninth consecutive accreditation; the commission also awarded “meritorious status” for sustained commitment to transparency, accountability, and continual improvement. Dr. Gillette specifically recognized Chief Smazinski, Accreditation Manager Sergeant Thomas Vinson, and police clerk Lisa Robin for their roles in the process and noted that assessing staff reviewed policies, procedures, investigations, custody procedures and other operations.

Chief Smazinski told the board the accreditation “means a lot to us” and emphasized that, as a small agency, most accreditation work was done by department staff rather than large teams common in bigger departments. The village president thanked the department for its achievement.

The certificate was accepted during the meeting’s opening presentations; no board vote was required. Village officials said the accreditation is a validation of the department’s practices and a signal to residents that the department engages in recognized professional standards.