Braintree Police Moving Towards Accreditation

BRAINTREE, MA — Braintree Police will take steps towards achieving state accreditation later this month, Chief Mark Dubois told the Town Council last week.

Town Council President Shannon Hume said she and Dubois originally hoped to have the accreditation process started last year, but the coronavirus pandemic got in the way. But Dubois said the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission will review the department's application at its meeting this month.

Dubois, who achieved accreditation while serving as Maynard's police chief, described the commission as a private entity that sets standards for police work at two levels.

He said the first step towards accreditation is certification and requires a department to meet 150 standards considered best practices for law enforcement. Those standards involve an array of police work including arrests, traffic stops, finances and more, Dubois said.

"We have all the standards in place right now," Dubois said. "We tried scheduling this four months ago, but it's been delayed with COVID-19."

Dubois said once a department obtains certification, it can move on to the second accreditation level, which involves meeting an additional 98 standards out of 223.

According to the Massacusetts Police Accreditation Commission, the designation is symbolic of an agency's commitment to professionalism and excellence, but it's not a requirement for operation. Very few South Shore communities have earned the honor, with Abington, Weymouth, Norwood and Randolph all earning accreditation. Communities like Quincy and Hingham have not.