Public Safety Reaccredited!

Director of Public Safety Paul L. Ominsky is pleased to announce that on March 5, 2008 the Mount Holyoke College Department of Public Safety was re-accredited by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission, Inc.

The Department was first certified in 2003 and accredited in 2005, and became the first college or university department to achieve either status. Achieving accreditation from the Commission is the highest award given, and it is a recognition that is highly regarded by the law enforcement community. Currently, only 16 agencies are certified (1 campus public safety agency) and 27 are accredited (2 other campus agencies).

Accreditation is a self-initiated evaluation process by which law enforcement departments strive to meet and maintain standards that have been established for the profession - by the profession. These carefully selected standards reflect critical areas of police management, operations, and technical support activities. They cover areas such as policy development, emergency response planning, training, communications, property and evidence handling, use of force, and prisoner transportation. The program not only sets standards for the law enforcement profession within the Commonwealth, but also for the delivery of police services to the community.

Questions regarding the accreditation process can be forwarded to one of the Department’s accreditation managers, Associate Director Barbara Arrighi, barrighi@mtholyoke.edu or Jeanne Tripp, jtripp@mtholyoke.edu.