This year marks the reaccreditation year for the Kent State Police Department.

The department is getting ready to show assessors how high the bar is set for their policies and procedures.

Kent State Police was first accredited in 1991 by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) and has been reaccredited every few years since.

Being accredited means that a station has taken the time to make sure they are going above and beyond to meet high standards all over the board.

The accreditation keeps the station under constant self-evaluation to ensure the community that the tactics are always up to par, from filing records correctly to conducting proper and just arrests.

The process has already been kicked off for off-site evaluations of files and records so that assessors can get a feel for the station on paper before even entering the building.

Two assessors will be coming to Kent on July 31 for an on-site evaluation. They will be in town until the following Wednesday, conducting ride-alongs with staff as well as interviews with faculty and community members.

Once the on-site procedures are finished, the station will receive a debriefing about the findings.  The assessors will then file a final report to CALEA.

If the station gets a positive vote from the assessors, they will head to South Carolina for the CALEA conference to receive the final verdict.

Kent State Police Sgt. Nancy Shefchuk said she likes to remind her team of officers on each reaccreditation year that the assessors are just regular police officers who are interested in seeing how the university’s station is run.

“Nobody’s perfect, but we have always done what we are supposed to do,” Shefchuk said. “How we work on a daily basis is what the assessors see and I think that’s the most incredible part about our station.”

There will be an informational public hearing on Aug. 1 at 5:30 p.m. in the Student Center alumni suite for anyone with questions or concerns about the process.

Contact Devon Sherepita at [email protected].