Brentwood Police Department Earns 9th National Accreditation

Brentwood Police Department

The Brentwood Police Department has earned “Accreditation 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 its most recent accreditation after a formal hearing on November 18, 2017 in Jacksonville, Florida.  Brentwood Mayor Jill Burgin and other Brentwood City Commissioners formally recognized the Police Department’s CALEA accreditation at the Monday, November 27 regular City Commission meeting.

Commissioner Anne Dunn said our citizens should take a lot of comfort in the professionalism of the Brentwood Police Department.  Dunn continued, “If you want to be an incorporated city, you should set your professional standards bar very high and I’m glad Brentwood values that.”  Vice Mayor Mark Gorman added  “without public safety strong at the foundation, the rest really doesn’t matter, so thank you Chief Hughes and your staff for what you all do for keeping our residents safe.“

The Brentwood Police Department was first accredited by CALEA in 1989. The most recent accreditation is the ninth consecutive award, making Brentwood the longest continuously accredited agency in Tennessee. Police Chief Jeff Hughes said, “no one has been accredited longer.  We are proud of that accomplishment. Accountability is something we take very serious in law enforcement because it sets the standards for professionalism at the highest possible level.”

Brentwood City Manager Kirk Bednar said, “while it has become something we expect, it is in no way “routine” and there is a tremendous amount of work done by everyone in the department to maintain the high standards expected of the CALEA accreditation system.  Lt. Kristin King is the accreditation manager for the department and leads this effort in her usual professional and efficient manner.”  Lt. King has already started working on the next accreditation set for 2021.

Accreditation is a voluntary process of independent agency review and conducted by outside professionals from across the country to ensure international standards set forth by CALEA. Accreditation ensures accountability and promotes professionalism in Law Enforcement by addressing the high-risk liability issues in law enforcement through policies, directives, and training.

In July 2017, an assessment team from CALEA spent multiple days at BPD and in Brentwood interviewing elected officials, City leaders, and the community; 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 484 standards examined. Importantly, the assessors identified two significant areas of accomplishment for BPD:

1)    Decreased vehicle pursuits to zero due to a new and more restrictive policy

2)    Zero employee disciplinary actions and grievances between the assessment cycle from 2014-2016

Chief Hughes relayed to the assessment team that the agency has a strong hiring process combined with stellar supervision.  Chief Hughes credits those things as key contributors to the low number of complaints and subsequent disciplinary actions.