The Warrenton Police Department and city leaders are celebrating the end of a four-year process to earn accreditation from a national police standards agency, and believe the recognition will promote confidence in the quality of Warrenton officers.

Warrenton Police Chief Larry Ellard last week announced that the department has completed its accreditation through CALEA, the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. The organization’s standards are recognized by hundreds of law enforcement agencies in the U.S., as well as several in Canada and Mexico.

Launching the accreditation effort was one of Ellard’s first actions after he became chief in 2017. Over that time, a once 10-page policy manual has become hundreds of pages, as police instituted in-depth requirements for training, hiring, discipline, evidence handling, equipment, use of force, emergency planning, and every other facet of police operations.

“I think we built, based on (CALEA’s) best practices, something that we can be confident in that we’re doing the right thing. Basically, we rebuilt our policy from the ground up ... and that has touched every aspect of what we do,” Ellard commented.

Of the many policy improvements, Ellard said some that will be most notable to the public are that the police department is more transparent, more responsive to complaints, and makes decisions based on written standards, not personal biases.

Lt. Justin Unger commented that having thorough guidelines and expectations laid out for police work means that officers can have confidence in their actions, and aren’t left guessing when they encounter something unexpected. “It gives me confidence in my position to know that I’ve always got good, strong policy that I can refer back to. I don’t have to make snap decisions – I can look at these accepted policies,” Unger explained.

Complying with CALEA standards doesn’t mean that the police department simply copies a long list of pre-written rules. Ellard explained that CALEA provides a general outline of best practices and scenarios to be prepared for, and it’s up to  each police agency to draft their own operating rules to meet those standards. For example, CALEA says every officer should have access to a protective vest, but that each agency needs to draft its own rules about when those vests are worn and where they should be kept.

The accreditation process has taken years because each new policy can take a month or more to draft and implement, retraining officers along the way. Going forward, Ellard said the police department will receive an online policy audit from CALEA every year, and an in-person inspection every four years to ensure they continue to comply with CALEA’s standards.

City leaders applauded the end of the years-long effort for accreditation, noting that having officers who meet nationally recognized standards will be a benefit to citizens. And, as Mayor Eric Schleuter noted, operating based on written standards will help protect officers from allegations of wrongdoing.

“It saves the department on litigation issues,  especially because it is so policy-driven,” commented Schleuter during a July 20 public meeting. “It (also) holds officers accountable to a certain standard — which is, in this day and age, something everyone looks for.”

City Attorney Christopher Graville, who is employed by a number of municipalities in the St. Louis region, said having a well-accredited police department is meaningful not only for residents, but also for businesses that are looking to relocate to a community. He believes the CALEA recognition will help let people know that Warrenton isn’t just some small rural town, but a high-quality place to live and work.