News

CALEA accreditation ensures quality, accountability, chief says

Police Chief Blair Myhand and accreditation manager Melissa Howard stand with Mayor Barbara Volk to celebrate the police department’s CALEA accreditation.

By Bill Moss, Published: December 10, 2024

The first time he was exposed to the international police accreditation process known as CALEA, Blair Myhand was less than a believer.

“When I was working in the town of Apex, we decided to do CALEA accreditation,” Myhand, who is now Hendersonville’s police chief, recalled. “I didn’t like it. I poo-pooed it, like most cops do: ‘They’re going to come and tell us how to do our job.’ But what I’ve learned over many years now is that this is a great management tool, and everybody in the community understands that this agency is always going to do the right things.”

Myhand last week detailed for the Hendersonville City Council how the department had achieved the seal of approval from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.

A board of 21 law enforcement professionals and judicial officials reviewed Hendersonville’s practices and certified the department’s adherence with CALEA standards.

“These are people that have nothing to do with the city of Hendersonville,” he said. “They come in here, review us and tell us that we’re meeting these standards. This is part of our continuous pursuit of excellence. We’re always looking to improve everything that we do.”

The accreditation requires police leaders to continually evaluate performance.

“So this time of year, we’re doing a lot of year-end annual reports where we analyze, for example, how many times we used force, what kind of force did we use,” he said. “Is there opportunities for training? Do we need to change policies?”

Why it matters

“Why this is important to you as a council and to the folks that are listening is we’re able to show our community that we are current with what’s going on in the world,” the chief continued. “It gives the city a stronger defense in civil lawsuits because our policies and our practices are meeting what progressive, advanced law enforcement agencies should be doing. We’re reducing our risk and liability on our folks because we have controls in place like vehicle pursuits. We certainly have greater accountability because we’re reporting everything that we do to you as the council and to all of our citizens and residents.”

The department’s accreditation effort, led by Monica Howard, completed the process of meeting 184 standards in 15 months — 21 months quicker than the 3-year deadline.

“We had zero deficiencies when they came on site, which was very rare,” Myhand said. “In fact, the assessor that came commented how rare it was, and made a point to point that out in his report to the commission.”

CALEA-certification also means the city also gets the maximum discount on its liability insurance premium.

HPD joins 1,300 accredited agencies around the world, 83 in North Carolina, and becomes the third agency in Western North Carolina, after Asheville’s police department and the Buncombe County sheriff’s office.

Benefits of accreditation, he said, will outlast his tenure and City Manager John Connet’s.

“I won’t always be the police chief. John won’t always be the city manager, but as long as we’re involved in this process this agency is going to be operating at a high level,” he said.