MIDDLEBOROUGH – Chief Joseph Perkins is pleased to announce that the Middleborough Police Department has achieved State Certification from the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission (MPAC) on Wednesday, March 31.
The usual in-person certification ceremony has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m pleased to announce that the department has achieved this major milestone as part of our commitment to further professionalize our department,” Chief Perkins said. “Receiving MPAC certification will provide the building blocks for our department to begin the process of earning accreditation status, which we expect to achieve within the next year. We hope that this proactive commitment to delivering an exemplary level of police service further shows our dedication to our community and its members.”
The department proactively committed to the certification process in December 2018 when the department moved into its’ new police facility.
Certification is a self-initiated evaluation process by which police departments strive to meet and maintain the highest standards of law enforcement. Certification is considered the best measure of a police department against the established best practices around the country. Certification means:
- The department is committed to meeting professional standards.
- The department is willing to be assessed regularly by Commission-appointed assessors to confirm compliance with professional standards; and
- The department agrees to correct deficiencies discovered during the assessment to establish or re-establish compliance with standards.
The voluntary MPAC program requires that departments meet 159 mandatory standards to attain certification. Standards include maintaining up-to-date policies on Jurisdiction and Mutual Aid, Collection and Preservation of Evidence, Communications, Working Conditions, Crime Analysis, Community Involvement, Financial Management, Internal Affairs, Juvenile Operations, Patrol Administration, Public Information, Records, Traffic, Training, Drug Enforcement and Victim/Witness Assistance.
The certification process is long and rigorous. Middleborough’s certification efforts spanned27 months and involved a self-review and subsequent evaluation by a team of Commission-appointed assessors who found the department to be in full compliance with all of the necessary standards required for certification.
Certification is considered a significant step toward accreditation, which requires departments to meet additional standards in order to achieve MPAC’s highest honor for police departments.
The Middleborough Police Department’s certification has been granted for a period of three years. Participation in the program is strictly voluntary.
###