Pennsylvania Chiefs accreditation awarded to Lewistown Borough Police Department

Mister Adams, accreditation program coordinator for the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association, presented Lewistown Borough Police Department with its accreditation certificate and described the program that led to the award. Adams told the council the program compares a departments policy manual to 125 standards and, in practice, requires documentation of about 370 best-practice checks and two proofs of compliance for each.

"Out of 370 best practices, the assessment team only found 5 file maintenance issues," Adams said, praising the departments work to address those items during the on-site review. He said accredited agencies demonstrate policies and practices aligned with contemporary best practices and that accredited departments are, according to studies he cited, sued less often and tend to have lower litigation payouts.

Adams outlined the maintenance process: accredited agencies submit an annual self-attestation to his office, and a full reassessment occurs every three years. He also noted a standing standards committee updates the manual and that new standards will be published in April, which accredited agencies will need to meet.

Council members and the mayor congratulated the chief and staff. The presentation emphasized accreditation as a risk-management and accountability measure and pointed residents to the Pennsylvania Chiefs public web page (pheeds.org) for the full list of standards and public information on accreditation.

The council meeting record included references to Chief Clemens as the department head and credited the mayor and elected officials for supporting the work that led to accreditation. The presentation concluded with the public handing the framed certificate to borough officials and remarks of thanks from Adams.