TEWKSBURY – Police Chief Ryan Columbus is proud to share that the Tewksbury Police Department has met applicable standards and qualified for accreditation from the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission (MPAC).
The MPAC board is scheduled to formally vote on accreditation for Tewksbury Police in February, but the department has already been notified that it has qualified by meeting all mandatory standards and more than 60 percent of optional standards.
“Accreditation has been a major goal of the department ever since I became chief, and we are proud to have been notified that we now qualify for the first time in the department’s history,” said Chief Columbus. “I am proud of this entire department for this achievement.”
Accreditation is a self-initiated, lengthy and comprehensive evaluation process. Participating departments complete an internal self-review and an external assessment by MPAC experts. The process is a voluntary evaluation by which police departments strive to meet and maintain the top standards of law enforcement. It is considered the best measure for a police department to compare itself against the established best practices around the country and region.
Tewksbury Police were assessed by MPAC on 128 mandatory standards and 120 optional standards, and met all mandatory standards and 74 of the optional standards.
These carefully selected standards reflect critical areas of police management, operations and technical support activities. They cover areas such as 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, Training, Traffic, Drug Enforcement and Victim/Witness Assistance
To learn more about MPAC, visit: https://masspoliceaccred.net/.