Hayward Police Department Earns Re-accreditation with Excellence

The Hayward Police Department is excited to announce that it has earned reaccreditation with “Excellence” by the prestigious Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA),which is considered the gold standard in public safety. The department was awarded reaccreditation after a formal hearing on March 25th, 2017 in Mobile, Alabama.

The “Excellence” distinction sanctions the professionalism and standards displayed by the department’s men and women and places our agency in the highest tier of accredited law enforcement agencies throughout the country.

CALEA accreditation is a voluntary process that requires accredited agencies to submit annual reports showing compliance with the programs’ standards. Agencies must stand for reaccreditation every four years, a process which includes an in-depth on-site assessment, community input and a formal hearing before a panel of commissioners. The reaccreditation required compliance with

nearly 500 professional standards measured in exacting detail by a commission of independent assessors. The assessment of these professional standards provides for a high level of transparency and commitment to an objective critique of the police department’s policies, procedures, and operating standards.

In December, an assessment team from CALEA spent multiple days at HPD and in the Hayward community conducting interviews with elected officials, City executives, department staff, and community members; reviewing written materials and examining policies, procedures, and operations protocols across the full spectrum of department activities, including riding along with officers in the field to verify that policies and procedures were actually in practice.

The CALEA assessors’ official report identified zero areas of noncompliance within the hundreds of standards examined. Importantly, the assessors identified two significant areas of accomplishment for HPD: One area is in successes the department has made in recruitment and selection of qualified under-represented groups within the community – an area of national concern in law enforcement. The other area of recognition is in the department’s robust and nationally recognized youth diversion programs administered by the Youth and Family Services Bureau.

The City Council will formally recognize the Hayward Police Department’s CALEA reaccreditation at a future Council meeting.

2016 CALEA Assessment