Enfield Police Department Undergoes Re-Accreditation Evaluation

The Enfield Police Department received a very favorable review Wednesday from a panel charged with evaluating the department in its bid for re-accreditation.

Scott Bowen, police chief of Lebanon, TN, and Sgt. Rick Bens of the Lebanon, OH Police Department spent several days looking into nearly 500 standards established by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. (CALEA).

Their report has not yet been completed, and final decision on accreditation is up to the commission, but the two law enforcement veterans expressed pleasure with their findings during an exit briefing with police and town officials Wednesday afternoon.

"All in all, this is a very qualified police department," Bowen said. 

The duo was particularly impressed with the department's equipment and vehicles, and the fact many of those items were acquired via grants. The panel also noted the strong community support for the department, as evidenced by the two dozen residents who spoke at a public hearing Monday night.

"The support at the public hearing was over the top," Bens said. "To have that many people in the community come out and speak in favor of you shows they appreciate what you do."

Bens said a female prisoner he talked to in a holding cell spoke highly of the department.

"She said she was treated great, she's the one who messed up and she had no hard feelings," Bens reported.

Bens stated the work Enfield does with juveniles "is fantastic."

"You try and steer them away from the juvenile justice system," he said. "You try to put them on the straight and narrow."

Of the nearly 500 standards by which the department was measured, only three "very minor issues" were identified and immediately corrected, Bowen said.

"The ultimate goal is to get better, and the only way to get better is to have people come in and look at what you're doing," Police Chief Carl Sferrazza said. "If you don't do that, you either stay where you are or you fall behind. We think we get better every time we do this."

The Enfield department was first accredited in 1996, and the evaluation process recurs every three years. Only 11 Connecticut departments are accredited by CALEA.

"The community supports our police department because they are proactive, and they take the time and steps to constantly seek ways to improve themselves," Mayor Scott Kaupin said. "It would be a lot easier to just sit back on your laurels and not have to worry about accreditation than having people come in and really pick you apart."