The Kent State University Police Department (KSUPD) has been recognized again as one of the nation’s elite agencies by the Commission for Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., (CALEA). It is the fifth reaccreditation award for the department since achieving its initial accreditation in 1991. 

KSUPD received its second Flagship Award, recognizing the department as a select organization that consistently demonstrates excellence and serves as a model for police, sheriff and other law enforcement agencies around the country. KSUPD is only the second agency in the nation to receive Flagship Award more than once.

The department, which is the only nationally accredited law enforcement agency at an Ohio public university and was one of the first university police departments in the nation to be accredited, also received the status of Meritorious Agency for having been accredited successfully for 15 or more years.

Chief John A. Peach, who also serves as director of the university’s Department of Public Safety, was presented with the Egon Bittner Award for holding leadership of a CALEA accredited agency for 15 or more continuous years.
 
In August, KSUPD completed the required five day on-site inspection in which three certified CALEA staff members assessed compliance to current standards for organization and management, law enforcement operations, and auxiliary and technical support. 

CALEA is an independent, non-profit organization that was created in 1979 and started granting accreditation awards in1984. The program has become the primary method for a law enforcement agency to demonstrate their commitment to excellence in law enforcement.  They are one of only 619 police agencies accredited by CALEA in all of the United States, Canada, Mexico and Barbados.