Accreditation

The Sevierville Police Department (SPD) became an accredited law enforcement agency in 1999 through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). This nationally recognized accreditation program consists of over 450 professional standards that the SPD incorporated into their General Orders and daily operations. The department was assessed every three years by CALEA assessors and re-accredited each time by the Commission. In 2008, the SPD was recognized by CALEA as a Flagship Agency, noting that the SPD “represents an extraordinary example of excellence in public safety.”

In 2010, the SPD became accredited through the Tennessee Law Enforcement Accreditation (TLEA) program. Like CALEA, the TLEA program consists of over 150 standards designed to ensure professionalism in the daily operations of the department. Due to the significant costs and time associated with maintaining accreditation with both CALEA and TLEA, the department elected in 2011 to only continue participation in the TLEA accreditation program.

Tennessee Law Enforcement Accreditation

The Sevierville Police Department was accredited by the Tennessee Law Enforcement Accreditation (TLEA) program in 2010. The department was only the 6th to receive accreditation through the TLEA, which requires adherence to over 150 professional law enforcement standards.

The TLEA standards are designed to:

• Increase the agency's ability to prevent crime.
• Increase the agency's effectiveness in the delivery of law enforcement services.
• Increase cooperation and effectiveness among other law enforcement agencies and criminal justice agencies.
• Increase citizen and employee confidence in the goals, objectives, policies, and practices of the agency.

Benefits of Law Enforcement Accreditation:

• Demonstrates the commitment of the agency to professionalism
• Assures the community that its law enforcement agency is committed to a high quality of service
• Requires an in-depth review of every aspect of an agency's organization