Dartmouth Police earn accreditation

Nov 23, 2021

The Dartmouth Police Department has been fully re-accredited by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission, Police Chief Brian Levesque has announced.

"We are pleased to receive re-accreditation for the third time as it is a testament to our department's dedication to establishing and maintaining the best policing practices," Levesque said. "I'd like to recognize and thank our accreditation manager Deputy Chief James Storey and Deputy Chief Tony Vincent for their commitment to this process and their leadership throughout."

The Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission awarded full accreditation status to the department again on Aug. 19. The usual in-person accreditation ceremony has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is the fourth time the Dartmouth Police Department has earned accreditation status. The department was first accredited in 2012 and was re-accredited in 2015 and 2018.

Accreditation is a self-initiated, lengthy and comprehensive evaluation process. Participating departments complete an internal self-review and an external assessment by Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission specialists.

The process is a voluntary evaluation through which police departments strive to meet and maintain the top standards of law enforcement. It is considered the best measure for a police department to compare itself against the established best practices around the country and region.

The department was assessed in April by a team of commission-appointed assessors. The assessment team found the department to be in compliance with all applicable standards for re-accreditation.

The Massachusetts Police Accreditation Program consists of 257 mandatory standards as well as 125 optional standards. In order to achieve accreditation status, the department was required to meet all applicable mandatory standards as well as 60 percent of the optional standards.

These standards include jurisdiction and mutual aid, collection and preservation of evidence, communications, working conditions, crime analysis, community involvement, financial management, internal affairs, juvenile operations, patrol administration, public information, records, training, traffic, drug enforcement and victim/witness assistance.

Accreditation must be renewed every three years and, following this year’s renewal, the Dartmouth Police Department will be up for re-accreditation again in May 2024.