Crime & Safety

15 Years Worth of Top Billing for Peabody PD

With the latest re-accreditation award for the Peabody Police Department, that will be 15 straight years the force has been recognized statewide for professionalism and excellence.

Peabody Police Chief Robert Champagne, who is retiring next summer, was pleased to announce recently that his department was re-accredited for the fifth consecutive time by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission.

“The award is a tribute to the hard work of the folks in this department and demonstrates the professionalism we maintain,” said Champagne in a statement.

He says that achieving accreditation at the state level, let alone the national level, is considered a very significant accomplishment in the law enforcement community and is essentially an official stamp on the professionalism and caliber of the department. It also helps with grant funding and other resources.

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Each accreditation award lasts for three years.

A press release from the Peabody police says "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."

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It covers 257 mandatory standards on police management, operations and technical support activities -- emergency response planning, training, communications, property and evidence handling, use of force, vehicular pursuit, prisoner transportation and holding facilities are all assessed.

A team of assessors (often retired law enforcement agents) appointed by the commission visited Peabody to observe the department's operations and found it to be in compliance with all standards for accreditation.

Peabody officers involved with assisting the assessment team were Deputy Chief Scott Carriere, Capt. Joseph Berardino, Lt. Richard Callahan, Sgt. Richard Girolimon, Detective Stephanie Lane, Officer Joseph Coup and research assistant and dispatcher Patrick Dawley.


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