Seal of the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission.
The Haverhill Police Department, which first won state accreditation in 2020, welcomes back the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission early next month.
Police Chief Robert P. Pistone said in a statement that a team of assessors are expected to undertake a review between Tuesday, Feb. 7, and Thursday, Feb. 9, to examine various aspects of the Haverhill Police Department’s policies and procedures, operations and facilities. Verification the Department continues to meet the Commission’s standards is part of a voluntary process—a self-initiated evaluation process by which police departments strive to meet and maintain standards that have been established for the profession, by the profession.
Then-Haverhill Police Chief Alan R. DeNaro called accreditation essential back in 2020, just months after public outcry following the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, while in police custody in Minneapolis.
“In this time in our country, accreditation is more important than ever. It provides departments a clear-cut plan on how to conduct law enforcement operations, best practices, safety training and accounting. All of the things that go along with being a transparent agency is having these guidelines in place to make sure that you’re constantly doing the best things that you can to provide superior services to the public,” he said.
The Massachusetts Police Accreditation Program consists of 257 mandatory standards as well as 125 optional standards. In order to achieve accreditation status, the Department must meet all applicable mandatory standards as well as 65% of the optional standards.
In 2021, Haverhill Police achieved national accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.
The department’s accreditation manager is Sgt. Tiffany Clark.