Kent State University Police Services has once again received accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. They have received this accreditation consecutively since 1991.

CALEA is a voluntary organization that accredits police departments, sets standards for conduct and public outreach and evaluates department performance.

“We are holding our officers, dispatchers and employees in general to a higher standard,” said Tricia Knoles, a Kent State University police sergeant. “It’s a way to be accountable.”

CALEA uses student comments, which can be commendations or concerns, to evaluate the department’s accreditation. The organization reviews the comments each year to assess compliance, though it is not an investigatory body and comments are not used for this purpose.

Students can comment on university police practices through its accreditation portal.

University police were one of the first agencies in Ohio to receive national accreditation, Knoles said, and it remains only the second university police department in the nation to have CALEA accreditation.

“It lets the public and community know that we are doing things as we should,” Knoles said. “We’re doing as much as we can do to show that we’re doing everything by the book.”

Alton Northup is a staff reporter. Contact him at [email protected].