The Los Alamos Police Department has achieved National Accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agents (CALEA).

Chief of Police Dino Sgambellone, Cmdr. Oliver Morris and the Department’s Accreditation Manager Sgt. Daniel Roberts accepted the award this morning at the CALEA conference in Frisco, Texas. Los Alamos County Manager Harry Burgess also is attending the conference.

The award, which was given with unanimous consent, was presented following a review early Saturday by a four-man committee, Chief Sgambellone told the Los Alamos Daily Post by phone this morning. He said CALEA officials discussed areas in which the Department stood out in a positive way and had complied with 100 percent of CALEA standards.

“This award represents the professionalism and dedication of the men and women of the Los Alamos Police Department,” Sgambellone said. “I am extremely proud of the Department and thankful for the support we have received from the County Manager, County Council, and the citizens we serve.  We look forward to continuing to honor our commitment to those we serve through professional police service.” 

LAPD will be honored at a banquet this evening, which will be attended by representatives of other agencies who earned accreditation during this cycle.

The Department is now operating under industry standard policies and procedures based on nationally recognized best practices and has proven by way of CALEA’s external review process that they actually follow those policies and procedures. CALEA has been called the gold standard for public safety agencies.

The Department began working on accreditation in 2015 by reviewing, rewriting and organizing some 800 pages of Department policies and procedures to bring them into line with CALEA standards. By December, CALEA found that LAPD is in compliance with 484 of their standards.

CALEA Accreditation Assessment Team members, Major (Ret.) Michael J. O’Brien and Lt. (Ret.) John Farrell, visited Los Alamos for several days in November and reviewed all applicable standard files, conducted numerous interviews and fielded phone calls. They also attended a public information session, participated in facility tours and an equipment static display as well as ride-a-longs with LAPD officers.

“We also reviewed other materials to collectively obtain an assessment of the agency’s compliance with standards in both letter and spirit,” Major O’Brien said in December.

He said the working relationship with Roberts and other members of LAPD was very good.

“The Assessment Team met with numerous agency personnel who were found to be extremely professional and knowledgeable of their duties and were helpful in determining compliance through interviews,” O’Brien said.

“The comments received during the call-in session and the community outreach were positive and supportive of agency involvement in the community … the Los Alamos Police Department is a professional and dedicated law enforcement agency focused on community involvement and collaboration with the communities they serve,” he said.

In February, CALEA Executive Director W. Craig Hadley, Jr. invited LAPD to the Frisco conference for this morning’s review committee hearing.

Hadley told Chief Sgambellone that the work of LAPD toward attaining the CALEA certification is “indicative of sound leadership as well as practitioner support of adherence to standards”.

Throughout the process, Roberts has said that the CALEA standards give the Department a proven management plan with written directives, comprehensive training and clearly-defined responsibilities.

“The process has been a great checks and balances system that has allowed us to look at every facet of out agency to make it the best it can be. And not we are ranked within the five percent of police departments nationwide who have national accreditation,” he said.

The Department will be required to meet CALEA’s updated standards every four years from now on and will have to submit annual reports and participate in annual remote web-based assessments attesting continued compliance with those standards under which it was initially accredited.

This is the second police department Sgambellone has led through the accreditation process as he was also chief of police at Mansfield Police Division in Ohio when that department received its re-accreditation in 2012.

Only two other law enforcement agencies in New Mexico are nationally accredited – New Mexico State Police (NMSP) and the Farmington Police Department. NMSP Chief Pete Cassetas is on the CALEA board of commissioners.

“This is a very significant accomplishment by our Police Department and attests both to the quality of the organization and to the efforts of our employees. I congratulate the Chief and all department staff on this recognition and look forward to utilizing the accreditation process to insure that the County maintains this high level of performance,” Burgess said following the presentation.

Los Alamos County Council Chair David Izraelevitz expressed his congratulations this morning to LAPD.

“I want to personally thank Chief Sgambellone and all the members of the Los Alamos Police Department for their hard work to achieve the highest standard in police accreditation. It demonstrates their professionalism and strong desire to provide our residents with the best public service,” he said.

Los Alamos Fire Chief Troy Hughes also sent his congratulations on a job well done.

“LAFD has been accredited four times and was one of five U.S. fire departments to first accomplish international accreditation. We understand the rigor associated with the accreditation process and applaud LAPD for this accomplishment,” he said. “Los Alamos is fortunate to now have two public safety departments that have proven to be among the best in our great nation.”