The national accreditation for public safety communications has been awarded to Richmond’s 911 agency.

The Richmond Department of Emergency Communications (DEC) received the national Public Safety Communications Accreditation on May 4 from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. (CALEA).

“The CALEA accreditation validates what we already know – that the City of Richmond has dedicated and well-trained public safety professionals who are ready, willing and able to assist our residents with emergency response communication when they need us the most,” said Mayor Levar M. Stoney. “I’m proud of our DEC team for this impressive achievement.”

Through the multi-year accreditation process, the department voluntarily demonstrated how it meets international best practices in public safety and professionally recognized criteria for excellence in management and service delivery. It completed a self-assessment phase and a meticulous site-based assessment in October 2018 of community engagement, policy, procedures, equipment and facilities by CALEA assessors.

“The accreditation process has evolved Richmond DEC from a good emergency communications center to a great center,” said Director Stephen M. Willoughby. “CALEA’s benchmarks will help ensure that we remain a high-performance organization that provides superior service to those who live, work and play in the city of Richmond,” he said.

The accreditation was awarded during the CALEA conference, May 1-4, 2019, in Huntsville, Alabama. Willoughby and Tory Maye, deputy director of operations; Jackie Crotts, deputy director of technology; and Kathy Berg, emergency communications manager, accepted the accreditation, after appearing before CALEA’s 21-member Board of Commissioners that reviewed all findings and determined its accreditation status.

This is DEC’s first award of national accreditation. It now moves into CALEA’s four-year accreditation cycle that includes four annual remote, web-based file reviews and a site-based assessment in the fourth year.

“This award of accreditation does not come easy,” said CALEA President Anthony Purcell. “The Richmond Department of Emergency Communications went through a rigorous review and evaluation of their organization and then implemented the necessary policy and procedure changes. The process does not stop now. By voluntarily choosing to seek CALEA accreditation, DEC commits to an ongoing review of adherence to CALEA’s standards. The Richmond community should feel confident that DEC is going above and beyond and operating under the highest standards in public safety.”

CALEA was created in 1979 through the combined efforts of four major law enforcement organizations: The International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, National Sheriffs’ Association and the Police Executive Research Forum.