Police Department earns “gold standard” rating
The Hayward Police Department has earned reaccreditation with “excellence” from the prestigious Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), which is considered the gold standard in public safety assessment.
The “excellence” distinction sanctions the professionalism and standards displayed by the department’s men and women and places HPD in the highest tier of accredited law enforcement agencies in the country.
Awarded at a formal hearing in Mobile, Ala., on March 25, the reaccreditation marks the successful completion of a voluntary process that requires police agencies to submit annual reports showing compliance with CALEA standards. Agencies must stand for reaccreditation every four years, when entails an in-depth on-site assessment, community input and a formal hearing before a panel of commissioners.
Reaccreditation required compliance with nearly 500 professional standards measured in exacting detail by a commission of independent assessors.
In December, a CALEA assessment team spent multiple days at HPD and in the Hayward community conducting interviews with community members, elected officials, city government executives and department staff. They reviewed written materials and examined policies, procedures, and operations protocols across the full spectrum of department activities, including riding along with officers in the field to verify policies and procedures are actually in practice.
CALEA assessors’ final report identified no areas of noncompliance with the hundreds of standards examined. Importantly, the assessors identified two significant areas of accomplishment for HPD. One was departmental success in recruitment and hiring of personnel reflective of Hayward’s diverse community. The second was recognition of the department’s robust and nationally recognized youth diversion programs administered by the HPD Youth and Family Services Bureau.
