Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Delaware Valley Insurance Trust (DVIT) provides special grant program for Pa. Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission (PLEAC) members. Read details here. To read the entire DIVIT newsletter, visit http://bit.ly/1cyIPbQ
Ethical law enforcement agencies have limited options when it comes to protection against frivolous lawsuits. One of the best is accreditation through the Pa. Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission (PLEAC) or National Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA). Like a “vaccination against infection”, accreditation signals to plaintiff’s bar that they are up against a professional agency that has undergone third party validation. This status can alter the risk/reward balance of a prospective lawsuit and make profit-focused plaintiff attorneys pass on a potential case. Why? The simple answer is victory is less certain.
Accreditation takes effort. Anything worthwhile capable of withstanding legal scrutiny needs to maintain high quality standards. A great deal of accreditation involves creating policies and managing the compliance “proofs” to demonstrate adherence with standards. Attempting to manage the records required for accreditation is challenging, especially in smaller agencies lacking dedicated staff.
The Pa. Chiefs of Police and PowerDMS Partnership
The Pa. Chiefs of Police Association (PCPA) recently announced a partnership with PowerDMS, a provider of policy and procedure management software. The objective of this partnership is to aid local agencies with managing their accreditation obligations. PCPA will be deploying their accreditation standards via the PowerDMS software platform. Additionally, PowerDMS allows agencies to upload their local policies/directives that correspond to the PLEAC standards, manage changes to policies, track policy distribution to end users and assess proficiency. All these features are intended to enable comprehensive accreditation program administration with a minimum of labor and paper handling.
