The Elon University Police Department is scheduled for an on-site assessment, Chief of Police Joe LeMire announced in an email June 28.
The assessment, administered by the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, is part of a program to achieve accreditation, which according to the email, requires verification that it meets professional standards in addition to compliance with standards in four areas: administration, policy and procedures, operations and support services.
The campus police department is in its fourth year of accreditation, and LeMire said it is a requirement for the notice to go out to the community.
“With that on-site visit coming up, we have to put notice to the communities,” LeMire said. “One of the requirements is we put out notice, we give the community, the campus community an opportunity to provide feedback.”
Agency employees and the public are invited to offer comments by calling Campus Police at 336-278-5550 from 1-3 p.m. on Aug. 1. LeMire said the comments will be taken directly by the assessment team, not the department.
While LeMire said he doesn’t have any expectations for the types of feedback, he said it can be either positive or negative, such as a fix, change or update to a policy.
The assessors will then either deny the department accreditation, approve the accreditation or approve the accreditation with expectations, like upgrading a policy change over a year or six months, according to LeMire.
“A lot of stuff with our policies, we have to show proofs,” LeMire said. “We have to have proof that the way we document our reports, or the way we do things and maybe somewhere along the line, we didn’t have proof. We’d have to accumulate that proof say in the next six months to a year and show that we’re following them.”
Those who would like to submit written comments about the police department’s ability to comply with the standards for accreditation may send them to IACLEA, 342 N. Main Street, West Hartford, CT.