Newtown Borough Police Department To Seek Accreditation In 2023

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, PA — Newtown Borough will begin the process of accrediting its police department in 2023.

The borough council has set aside funding in its proposed budget for the application and consulting fees that will be required for what is expected to be a one year process beginning in 2023 and extending into early 2024.

In addition, the budget includes the promotion of an officer to the rank of sergeant. That new officer will serve as the department’s accreditation manager throughout the process.

“This is something I’ve wanted to do for a while,” said Police Chief James Sabath. “It’s really going to lay the foundation for the future of the department that we are doing everything we should be doing.”

The accreditation will be overseen by the Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accreditation Program, which has been designed and developed by professional law enforcement executives to provide a reasonable and cost effective plan for the professionalization of law enforcement agencies in Pennsylvania.

The bulk of the cost of the program is underwritten by the Pennsylvania Police Chiefs Association, which pays for the teams of professional assessors who are involved in reviewing the agencies.

The local cost to the borough includes an initial $250 application fee and a $30,000 outlay in 2023 for consultation services.

Statewide, 149 agencies are accredited under the program, including 24 of the 39 departments in Bucks County. Of the 650,000 residents living in Bucks, 500,000 are represented by departments that are accredited, said Sabath.

Accreditation is a long and involved process, which begins with a self-evaluation of the department.

During the initial self-evaluation phase, the department will review 125 different standards (best practices) in policies and procedures to make sure all of its officers and the agency is in compliance. That culminates in a mock assessment.

A team of trained assessors (current chiefs from outside the area) will then visit the department to review the department’s policy manual and to determine whether all the officers and the agency are complying with the standards. That also includes a sit down closed door conversation with the chief of police and his command staff.

“The three chiefs will come in, review our files, go through our arrest folders and make sure everything is up to date and that our evidence is being stored in a proper fashion,” said Sabath.

The assessors then prepare a report for the commission, which decides whether the department has met accreditation status.

The main purpose, said Chief Sabath, is to identify areas of training that are deficient and to make improvements.

“It’s going to take away a lot of our liability issues and it brings us credibility,” said the chief.

Accreditation lasts for three years, although there’s an ongoing $12,000 a year cost to the department to provide proof that it is following process.

Some of the benefits of accreditation include establishing a credible framework for evaluating agency practices and procedures, reducing agency risk and exposure to lawsuits, decreasing some liability insurance expenditures, improving law enforcement and community relations, increasing employee input, interaction and confidence in the agency, identifying and highlighting the capabilities and competence of the agency, extending agency accountability to the public and elected officials and encouraging problem-solving activities within the agency.