PEPPERELL – Chief David Scott is pleased to announce that the Pepperell Police Department has achieved State Certification from the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission (MPAC).
While the typical in-person ceremony for certified and accredited departments was not held due to the pandemic, Pepperell Police were officially awarded their certification June 24.
“Achieving certification is a significant step and reflects the entire department’s commitment to professionalism and delivering the highest possible level of service to our community,” Chief Scott said. “I want to thank Deputy Chief Todd Blain for spearheading this effort and ensuring we are meeting and exceeding the rigorous standards set out by the Commission.”
Certification and eventually accreditation have been long-held goals of the department, and Deputy Chief Blain took the reins of the effort last summer, with that work culminating in certification this summer.
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. Pepperell’s certification efforts 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 benchmarks in order to achieve MPAC’s highest standard for police departments.
The Pepperell Police Department’s certification has been granted for a period of three years. Participation in the program is strictly voluntary.
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