Imagine the following scenario: for 10 years you have paid your household bills, keeping your invoices, household papers, receipts, and cancelled checks in one big box. Then someone asks you a few questions such as What have your heating bills been for the last five winters? or When does the warranty on the vacuum cleaner expire? If this scenario would elicit a series of groans, then maybe you need to mirror the efforts of the Guilford Police Department in its successful win of a state standards accreditation. This spring, the department gained recognition by becoming accredited by the Police Officer Standards and Training Council, or POST for short. By becoming state certified, and having our international certification by CALEA, we are able to provide benefits to both the public and our own officers by increased professionalism, increased confidence, and oversight and inspection by two outside agencies, said Deputy Chief of Police Jeffrey Hutchinson. According to Hutchinson, the police department was always doing its job, but now the department documents everything properly, keeping the monumental amount of records organized. The POST accreditation provides us with a series of checks and balances, reiterated Huchinson. We have the files, and now we make sure they are maintained, documented, and organized. According to Hutchinson, it took the department several years to get the processes in place. For example, if OSHA came to us and needed to see our records regarding employee exposures to hazardous materials, and needed to know what procedures has been done, and which officers were exposed, we now have that information readily available, said Hutchinson. Before, we had the information and the records, but would have needed time to pull and review each officers file. Back in March, Chief of Police Thomas Terribile flew to Birmingham, Alabama to accept an international accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), for the department. Both accreditations are for three years, are voluntary, and are at no cost to the department. If you are CALEA certified, there is carry-over to become POST certified, added Hutchinson. The CALEA certification required that the department prove compliance with 446 standards; the POST accreditation required the fulfillment of eight additional standards. For one example, in crime analysis, the department must comply with written standards addressing the collection, collation, analysis, and dissemination of data relating to a crime. The POST accreditations standards included procedures on handling occurrences of sexual assault, family violence, wrongful arrest, accident investigations, AIDS and HIV, blood-borne pathogens (such as hepatitis), medical training, and work scheduling. The State Accreditation Standards for Local Police Agencies Program is run by the Connecticut Police Officer Standards and Training Council (POST Council), based in Meriden. The members of the council are a public board appointed by the Governor and include federal, state, and local law enforcement managers along with public members. The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA), was established as an independent accrediting authority in 1979. The overall purpose of both agencies is to improve delivery of law enforcement service by offering a body of standards, developed by law enforcement practitioners, covering a wide range of up-to-date law enforcement topics. The benefits of the accreditation include the recognition of obtaining international excellence, controlled liability insurance costs, administrative improvements, greater accountability from supervisors, and increased governmental and community support.