Braintree Police Awarded Accreditation: What It Means

BRAINTREE, MA — The Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission (MPAC) voted to award accreditation to the Braintree Police Department on Oct. 26, the department announced in a news release.

Accreditation is a self-initiated evaluation process, by which police departments strive to meet and maintain standards that have been established for the profession, by the profession, officials said. The standards reflect critical areas of police management, operations, and technical support activities.

There are two credentialing programs: certification and accreditation. Accreditation is the higher of the two program awards consisting of 382 standards, officials said. Over 250 are mandatory and 125 are optional.

These standards cover areas, such as policy development, emergency response planning, training, communications, property and evidence handling, use of force, vehicular pursuit, prisoner transportation and holding facilities.

Under the leadership of Chief Mark Dubois, the department earned its certification in July 2021. The department’s accreditation manager during that time was Lieutenant David Del Papa, now the Abington Police Chief.

Lieutenant Robert Joseph took over as the accreditation manager in October 2021.

"Lieutenant Joseph’s hard work carried the Braintree Police through an accelerated Accreditation process culminating in a rigorous, three-day assessment in June of 2022 by a team of MPAC-appointed assessors," officials said.

This accreditation award is valid for three years. Each standard will need to be maintained and updated for re-accreditation in 2025.

"The process of achieving and maintaining accreditation has been a road map for our success in policy development and professional standards." said Police Chief Mark Dubois.

"We are very fortunate to be supported by a team of dedicated professionals in the Police Department that strive for continuous improvement in the delivery of public safety services to our community."