Coventry Police Dept. Receives Accreditation

COVENTRY, R.I. -- For the first time in the its history, the Coventry Police Department has received accreditation from the Rhode Island Police Accreditation Commission (RIPAC). The honor was awarded at the Coventry Town Council meeting on January 28.

“I am extremely proud to be able to say that for the first time in the history of the Coventry Police Department that we have earned accreditation from the Rhode Island Police Accreditation Commission,"Colonel John MacDonald said at the ceremony. "When we developed our strategic plan a few years ago, the goal of achieving Accreditation was second only to upgrading our police facility. It’s been a long haul, but today we achieved something special moving one step closer to both of those goals.”

MacDonald added that the accreditation process was extremely difficult and time-consuming, and would not have been possible without the department's Accreditation Managers, Captain Pete Zalabowski and Lieutenant Gary Miller.

"Both of them have worked very hard over the past several years toward this goal and only they and other Accreditation Managers know how truly time consuming and difficult this process is," Col. MacDonald said. "They don’t make TV shows called 'Chicago Accreditation,' because the reality is that the work isn’t exciting, but it is extremely important to the health of a police agency.”

Col. MacDonald, Capt. Zalabowski, and Lt. Miller were all presented with professional excellence awards at the ceremony to celebrate their hard work and dedication during the accreditation process.

The accreditation will last for three years, at which point the department be reassessed by RIPAC to see if the standards are still being met.