Public Safety and Service Department Accreditation

The department has been presented with its award for re-accreditation from the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission. The award period will continue through the fall of 2023. Currently, 78 agencies in Massachusetts are accredited and another 21 are certified. Achievement of this standard provides our agency a means of independent evaluation of agency operations for quality assurance.

Why accreditation?

Just like hospitals, colleges, and other organizations have accreditation programs, accreditation assures our community that the department meets the standards of their field.

• Accreditation assures the operational readiness of the Public Safety and Service department.
• Accreditation assures that the department's policies and procedures and rules and regulations are in line with modern professional standards.
• Accreditation promotes a strong emphasis on officer safety, training, and professional hiring and promotional procedures that assure professional and top-calibre service to our communities.
• Accreditation provides an ongoing, independent evaluation of the Public Safety and Service department.
• Accreditation improves the quality of individuals who apply for employment with our agency.
• Accreditation provides each member of the department with a sense of pride, knowing that their agency has met such high, professional standards.

Mount Holyoke College was first certified by the Commission in 2003 and accredited in 2004, becoming the first college or university to obtain those statuses. During our review assessors visited our department spaces on all three campuses.

For more about the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission, please visit their website.