Story submitted by the Clarksville Police Department

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Clarksville Police Chief Al Ansley went before a group of CALEA (Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies) Commissioners Aug. 3 in Columbus, Ohio, for a hearing to determine whether the Clarksville Police Department (CPD) would be awarded reaccreditation.

After the hearing, Committee C recommended to the full commission that the CPD receive advanced accreditation. Chief Ansley accepted the award that evening.

CPD was awarded accreditation in the early 90s but dropped out of the program. In 2007, when Chief Ansley was named Chief and with the support of the Mayor and the City Council, a decision was made to re-enter the program and CPD had to start from scratch with the accreditation process. In July of 2010, CPD was again awarded with accreditation. Mayor McMillian and the current City Council have chosen to continue to support the process and for the first time ever the CPD has been awarded reaccreditation with advanced accreditation.

CALEA was established in 1979 as a result of combined efforts of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), National Organization of Black Law Enforcement (NOBLE), National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) and the Police Executive Research Fund (PERF) to establish a law enforcement credentialing authority. According to CALEA, today, only 17 percent of U.S. law enforcement agencies have earned CALEA accreditation.

The Law Enforcement Accreditation Program was the first credentialing program established by CALEA after its founding. It was originally developed to address what was seen as a need to enhance law enforcement as a profession and to improve law enforcement service delivery. That mission continues today through a tiered law enforcement accreditation program. For more information see the following link: http://www.calea.org/content/law-enforcement-accreditation.

The Clarksville Police Department and Chief Ansley want to thank everyone who supported them through this process and especially the individuals who took time out of their busy schedules to conduct an interview with the CALEA Assessors during the required on-site visit.

The full report can be viewed on the Departments Web Page.
http://www.cityofclarksville.com/index.aspx?page=420