LA PLATA — The La Plata Police Department has been reaccredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies after four years of reviews turned up no problems, a result the presenter called “certainly not the norm.”
Former La Plata Police Chief Carl Schinner presented the reaccreditation certificate to Chief Matthew Norris and the department at the Town Council’s Oct. 13 meeting. “It’s great to be back in La Plata,” Schinner said. “It’s like coming home again.” Schinner was named a CALEA delegate in 2023, while he was La Plata’s chief, according to CALEA.
CALEA assessors visited the department in May, and CALEA’s commissioners unanimously approved its reaccreditation July 25 at a meeting in Omaha, Neb., Schinner said. The Chronicle reported the decision in July; the council meeting was the formal presentation.
2,000 chances to miss
The assessment covered four annual reviews of policies and proof of compliance, plus the on-site visit. There were “no standard issues in all of those reviews, none,” Schinner said.
CALEA has 186 core standards and about 315 sub-standards, he said, for roughly 500 benchmarks reviewed every year. Over four years, that’s about 2,000 checks for compliance.
“While clean reports, no standard issues are not unheard of in CALEA, they are certainly not the norm,” Schinner said. He singled out the department’s accreditation manager, identified at the meeting as Mrs. DeSoto.
CALEA was created in 1979 by law enforcement groups including the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Sheriffs’ Association to set professional standards for policing. Accreditation is voluntary.
‘The work never ends’
Norris thanked his staff and credited DeSoto with gathering the proof the department needs to meet the standards. Sometimes, he said, that means chasing officers around the department for something as small as a photo of them directing traffic or a properly filled-out jail form.
“It’s another four-year cycle that we’re in now,” Norris said. “So the work never ends.”
Mayor Jeannine James thanked the department “for really adhering to these standards” and told Schinner he was welcome back any time.
