BROOKINGS – The South Dakota State University Police Department became one of the 49 campus public safety departments accredited by the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators.
UPD, which will be accredited for four years, is the only university police department in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming to have earned accreditation.
“Our desire to become accredited goes back several years and was fully supported by university administration,” said UPD Chief of Police Tim Heaton, who initiated the process of accreditation. “It has not been an easy process and we had a few setbacks along the way, but we are very proud of this accomplishment.”
Accreditation of a campus public safety department by IACLEA constitutes recognition that the department conforms to the highest professional standards for campus law enforcement and protective services.
“Being the flagship university for South Dakota and one of only two universities in the state that have a law enforcement agency, we felt it was important to let our community know we’re a full-service professional law enforcement agency, not just campus security. Accreditation will help us greatly achieve that,” said Michael Kilber, UPD deputy chief, noting UPD had to meet 215 standards to receive accreditation. Kilber led UPD through the accreditation process.
“We had to prove that we fully met each compliance standard during the initial assessment and we will have to continue to prove it year after year,” Kilber said.
The IACLEA Accreditation Commission believes these standards reflect the best professional requirements and practices for campus public safety agencies. The standards provide a framework to develop a system of professional practices in a variety of administrative and operational areas, such as organization and administration, training and career development, patrol, crime prevention and investigation, evidence collection and management, and traffic operations.
“Not only is South Dakota State the only IACLEA accredited agency in South Dakota, but it is the only accredited agency in all of its contiguous states,” said Jack Leonard, IACLEA’s director of Accreditation & LEMAP Services. “This fact makes their impressive achievement even more remarkable. Oftentimes, agencies that are working through the accreditation process collaborate with one another, sharing ideas, comparing policies and procedures, and reviewing each other's directives and compliance documentation. While all of this can be done electronically, it is frequently more convenient and expedient to physically meet and share resources. This option was not available to the South Dakota State University Police Department. They didn't have a "neighbor" that they could easily call on for assistance.”
UPD had 36 months to complete the application process, documenting how it met IACLEA standards.
“While the IACLEA’s on-site assessment noted that we’re ahead of the game in several areas, there were still some standards that helped us to make improvements. As a result, we modified some policies and procedures,” Kilber said.
“For example, while we have several certified law enforcement instructors on staff, we didn’t always have a complete lesson plan for each topic. IACLEA requires full lesson plans on file for each topic of instruction. This adjustment improves our training program and thus our level of professionalism even more.
“We've had agencywide buy-in to the accreditation process for years and everyone knows how important it is,” he continued. “We had to develop an accreditation team from all areas of UPD, with each member taking a piece of the puzzle to achieve accreditation. As we bring in new employees, we’ll be able to explain that accreditation is a big deal to us and it’s a commitment we have made as a department and as individuals. Even our student patrol officers have expectations. IACLEA accreditation has worked its way into every aspect of our day-to-day operations and long-term planning.”
With so few university police departments having IACLEA accreditation, Kilber said he’d like to help others earn accreditation.
“We’re hoping to bring aboard other universities from South Dakota and neighboring states,” Kilber said. “When we worked through the accreditation process, we received training from remote locations but regionally we stood alone. If other universities decide to become accredited, we can be a resource for them and help them meet the same standards we met.”
