CALEA Accreditation & Report

The UPPD is a fully-accredited police department, and has been since March 2001, through the Commission on the Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA)*, which administers a rigorous accreditation process whereby law enforcement agencies must adhere to over 440 standards, codes and state-of-the-art practices. The UPPD is the first Pennsylvania university police department to receive this prestigious recognition.

The University of Pennsylvania Police Department has been awarded Law Enforcement Accreditation effective March 23, 2024, for the Eighth consecutive time.

The process of CALEA Accreditation begins with a rigorous self-assessment, requiring a review of policies, practices, and processes against internationally accepted public safety standards. This is followed with an assessment by independent assessors with significant public safety experience. Additionally, public feedback is received to promote community trust and engagement, and structured interviews are conducted with select agency personnel and others with knowledge to assess the agency’s effectiveness and overall service delivery capacities.

In March of 2024 the University of Pennsylvania Police Department received CALEA re-accreditation for the 8th cycle for a total of 22 consecutive years of accreditation. With this re-accreditation, the Department is considered exemplary in the field of law enforcement and will pave the way to increased professionalism within the standards of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.

*CALEA: The credentialing authority created through the joint efforts of the following four law enforcement major executive associations: International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP); National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE); National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA); and the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF). The purpose of CALEA’s Accreditation Programs is to improve the delivery of public safety services, primarily by: maintaining a body of standards, developed by public safety practitioners, covering a wide range of up-to-date public safety initiatives; establishing and administering an accreditation process; and recognizing professional excellence.

CALEA Report

Since March 2001, Penn Police has been a fully-accredited police department, through the Commission on the Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA)*. CALEA administers a rigorous accreditation process whereby law enforcement agencies must adhere to over 440 standards, codes and state-of-the-art practices. UPPD undergoes a reaccreditation process every four (4) years.

Below is our most recent Accreditation Report from 2023-24 assessment period, following our on-site assessment which took place in October 2023. Included in this report is a review of our directives and other policies; analysis of our traffic and pedestrian stop data over the previous four (4) calendar years, including racial/bias profiling and complaint analysis; use of force data analysis; analysis of departmental discipline; analysis of our employee and community demographics; hiring and promotion practices and data.

University of Pennsylvania Police Department CALEA Report 2023-24

Public Safety CALEA Town Hall – Highlights

This is an abbreviated version of the 2019 CALEA Town Hall meeting, reduced for time and clarity. Not all speakers are included in this edited version. See below for the full hour-long session.

Full Recording of Public Safety CALEA Town Hall 10-23-19

This video shows the 2019 CALEA Town Hall meeting in its entirety.

CALEA Accreditation Public Comment Portal

The purpose of this public portal is to receive comments regarding an agency’s compliance with CALEA standards, engagement in the service community, delivery of public safety services, and overall candidacy for accredited status. These comments can be in the form of commendations or concerns. The overall intent of the accreditation process is to provide the participating agency with information to support continuous improvement, as well as foster the pursuit of professional excellence.

We welcome your input! To access the public comment portal for the University of Pennsylvania Police Department, click the link below:

http://cimrs2.calea.org/187

IMPORTANT: CALEA is not an investigatory body and subsequently the public portal should not be used to submit information for such purposes. Additionally, there will be no response other than acknowledgement to submissions; however, the information will be considered in context to its relevancy to compliance with standards and the tenets of CALEA® Accreditation.