Elon University Campus Safety and Police has earned reaccreditation from the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators. The department was first accredited by the association in 2018.
Chief of Campus Police Joe LeMire said accreditations like IACLEA are often tied to policies, and Elon is one of fewer than 100 agencies across the country to earn the recognition.
LeMire said some of these policies are related to use of force, deadly force, body camera footage and officer accountability. The accrediting bodies set standards for these policies to ensure the agency is meeting them.
“It's a lot to do with how you operate, how you perform, how you do things related to the job from investigations to handling evidence to recruiting and retaining and promoting employees,” LeMire said. “The standards that are set out there, you're meeting those things, so universities, cities, counties, other areas know that when you're meeting those levels, it's a professional organization.”
In August, IACLEA administered an on-site assessment as part of programming to achieve accreditation. The public was able to offer feedback to the assessment team.
In four years, the agency will seek reaccreditation again.
“You hope that all those policies that you have that as you train your staff to those levels, the increase in professionalism and accountability of your police department goes up,” LeMire said. “As that accountability and professionalism goes up, your reputation in the community goes up. And then when you're looking to hire and recruit and retain some of the best officers, they'll look at the department and say, that place has a reputation of being a very good police department.”